Dark Days
by DREWHHR
Summary: A world where Voldemort is in power and all of the wizards and witches opposed to him live in hiding. I suck at summaries. Full summary inside. H/Hr.
1. Saved!

**Hey, wassup? So, here's another story I wanted to start. It's a story in which Voldemort took power and Snape never heard the prophecy. So, Lily and James are alive.**

**Summary: Voldemort took power and defeated Albus Dumbledore. He is not after the Potters as Snape did not hear the prophecy. Muggle-Borns are being persecuted for who they are by the Death Eaters. Harry and James save a teenaged, orphaned Muggle-Born girl one day and invite her to stay with them. Soon, she and Harry fall in love.**

**Don't exactly have a full plot, though. Thinking of a prophecy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Dark Days **

**Chapter One**

**Saved!**

Everyone knew about the green light murders. Some people were terrified of going outside of their homes. The murders were unstoppable and no one knew who caused them. The people that were at the scene of the crime couldn't remember what had happened. It was like their minds were wiped away. They were called the "green light murders" because a green flash could be seen before someone died.

Orphaned, eighteen-year-old Hermione Granger didn't really care about this warning. In fact, she preferred books over precaution. It was getting late as she walked home from the Barnes & Noble in the city. She had stayed until closing time. Then, the owner had threatened to toss her out when she didn't want to leave. She didn't have a car as she did not have the money for it. She held her purse to her closely and looked around her cautiously. It was true she didn't care, but no harm in being cautious, right?

Suddenly, she felt like she was being followed. She turned around quickly and spastically. No one was there. She shook her head, trying to clear the frightened thoughts in her mind, faced forward, and walked on. She felt brave a second ago. Why was she suddenly so scared? She thought about what her cat was doing, trying to get her mind off of her nervousness. She wondered if he was pacing around his bowl waiting for her to come home and fill it with his dinner.

_"Crucio!" _she heard a cold voice shout. She saw a red light out of the corner of her eye and was blasted into an alley. She landed on her side, but didn't feel the pain from the impact of the stony street. Instead, she felt pain all over her body as of there were a thousand knives being stuck into her all over. She was riveting thriving in agony. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Hoping someone would hear her and come rescue her from this torture. But no one came.

"Well, well, well, look what we got here, Lucius," a sneering voice said coming closer to her. "A poor, defenseless, little bitch."

Hermione felt whatever torture was under her disintegrate and was replaced with a slight numbness. She opened her eyes and looked at her attacker. Or rather, attackers. It was three men in black cloaks holding strange sticks like they were weapons.

"Please, leave me alone," she said shaking with fear.

They just laughed at her. The tall one had blonde hair that went to the middle of his back and cold, grey eyes. The one that had spoken had dark eyes and hair and had some stubble on his chin. The last one had a blonde buzz cut and brown eyes and was largely built.

"Shut up, Mudblood!" Buzz Cut spat at her and raised his stick again. _"Crucio!"_ Hermione felt that pain again. It was worse now that she barely had time to recover from the last one. She squeezed her eyes shut wanting it all to go away. Wanting someone to take her pain away. In the midst of all of this, she was thinking that this was how she was going to die. This was it. Of all things to think about before she died she wondered who would take care of Crookshanks when she was gone. _'He would be quite lonely' _she thought to herself.

_"Crucio!"_came a shout just as Hermione felt the pain leaving again. She screamed so loud, she was sure someone could hear her. After a few moments, she realized that no one would come. No one could hear her. No one would care that she died.

Finally, a voice that sounded like angels to her shouted, _"Stupefy!" _The pain went away and she heard more shouting and yelling.

"Ah, Papa Potter, Baby Potter, Lupin, and Black, come to join us?"

"Leave her alone," a young, yet strong voice growled. More strange words-Hermione recognized some of them to be Latin-were being shouted and she saw more flashes. Finally, it stopped and she saw her three attackers lying on the ground unconscious. She smiled weakly, but then realized she had other company and she didn't know what they would do to her.

"Sirius! Harry! Remus and I best get this lot to the Ministry," she heard one of the newcomers say. "Harry, go check on her."

Hermione heard footsteps getting closer and closer to her. A figure knelt down and gently took her arm. She recoiled immediately. Even though the touch was soft, she decided to be more cautious now. "No, shh, it's okay. We're here to help you. I won't hurt you. I promise."

The eighteen-year-old let him touch her arm and she opened her eyes and looked at him. He was so beautiful. He was about her age and had pitch-black, untidy hair, and the greenest eyes she'd ever seen behind round, wire glasses. He was a little pale and had a strong, set jaw. He was well-built and looked very strong. He, too, had a stick in his hand. Hermione wanted to run away, but she found herself too tired to do just that. Worn out from the pain. So, she closed her eyes, letting her companion's green orbs be the last thing she saw.

* * *

Hermione heard someone moving around her as she stirred awake. She felt warm and comfortable...wherever she was. "Where...where am I?" she asked whomever it was that was around her. Her eyes were still closed, wanting to know where she was first before opening them.

"It's okay. You're alright. You're in my home. You're safe," a soft, feminine voice said. Hermione was soothed by it. It was very motherly and affectionate.

She opened her eyes and saw those same green eyes she had seen before she had blacked out. This time they were attached to a middle-aged woman with beautiful, red hair. She had a kind face and loving smile. Hermione asked curiously, "Who are you?"

"My name is Lily Potter. My husband and son saved you. What's your name, dear?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger," she answered for some reason trusting this woman. Hermione was in a neutral-colored bedroom, lying in a soft, queen-sized bed with red covers and bedsheets. There was a wooden dresser to the left of her bed hehind the chair Lily Potter sat in. On the other side of her was a vanity and a door that must have led into the bathroom. She was still in her jeans, she noticed as her legs were very uncomfortable. Suddenly, she noticed that Lily Potter had a stick like the others had and she widened her eyes at the sight of it. Immediately, she tried to rush out of the bed and get away, but Lily Potter stopped her.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," she said softly.

"You have one of those," she pointed to the stick in her hand. "The ones who attacked me each had one, too."

Lily smiled at the younger girl. "Yes, but I will not harm you with it. I promise. You can trust me," she reassured her.

Hermione settled back down onto the bed, deciding to trust this woman.

"What's your name, dear?" Lily asked.

"Hermione. Hermione Granger," she answered.

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione."

Suddenly, the door flew open and a tall, thin, yet muscular, young man stood there. Hermione recognized him as the one who had touched her arm and soothed her before she blacked out. He looked at her and then at Lily. That was when Hermione noticed that they both had the same green eyes. She guessed they must be related.

He gave her an annoyed look. "Mum..." _'So they are related'_ Hermione thought. "...you promised you would tell me when she woke up."

"Oh, Harry, give the poor girl a break. She's had a long night. She was tortured by Death Eaters. And besides, she just woke up," Lily chastised him, making him blush.

He looked back at her and gave her a cute, boyish, shy smile. Hermione rather liked looking at his smile. He looked back at his mother. "Sorry, Mum." Just then, there was a shout from downstairs, "Lily! Harry! I'm home!"

"Oh, that'll be your father. I need to speak to him privately. I'll be back in a moment." She left the room, leaving the young man and Hermione alone. He walked in and sat in the chair his mother had occupied just before.

"You're the one that saved me," Hermione pointed out a little stupidly.

He nodded, "Yeah, my name is Harry Potter. What's yours?"

She told him and then said, "I want to thank you for saving me. If you don't mind me asking, who were they?"

Harry inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily, looking a little nervous. Hermione wondered if it was forbidden for him to tell her. She had so many questions. Who were they? What were they? What was that light that came out of that stick? What was the stick? Why did they need it? What was it for?

"Erm...well, do you-do you believe in magic?" he asked her in response.

"Magic? I don't know. I'm pretty logical," she replied not sure why this had to do with her question.

"Well...it's real. I'm a wizard. They were, too. But much darker wizards. Wizards that inflict harm on other people just for the fun of it," he said this last part in despise. "Mum thinks you are a witch, too."

Hermione just stared at him for a moment and then started to laugh. It sounded so ridiculous to her! Magic is real? That's maddening! What was he playing at? But he didn't laugh with her. He just sat there with a serious look on his face.

"You're not joking..." she concluded breathlessly.

"No, I'm serious. Watch..." He raised his stick-Hermione guessed that was his magical wand-pointed it at a picture frame on the bedside table on the other side of her. It was a picture himself and a snowy-white owl was perched on his shoulder and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Hermione's eyes widened as the picture frame began to rise up into the air and float toward him. Her eyes followed it as it passed right in front of her face. He caught it in his hand.

"How did you do that?" she asked in disbelief.

"Magic," he replied with a smile. "Have you ever made anything happen? When you were angry or scared? Anything...strange?"

Hermione thought about this. She remembered when she was only eight years old and she had a tree in her backyard that housed a magpie's nest. One morning she had went outside and heard small chirping, indicating that the mother magpie had laid eggs and they had hatched. She had wanted to see what they looked like, but the nearest limb was too high up for her to reach. A moment later, she found herself in the tree looking at the bird's nest without any knowledge of how she got there. She began to get scared and her father had to come and get her using a ladder. The eighteen-year-old nodded at her companion.

"Then, you must be a witch," he said thoughtfully. Hermione was going to respond, but they heard footsteps on the wooden floor in the hall and Mrs. Potter appeared in the doorway with an older man that also looked middle-aged. He looked just like Harry, except for the eyes. He had brown ones. He smiled at her.

"Hello, Hermione Granger. Welcome to my home. My name is James Potter. I believe you've already met my wife and this rascal." He walked over to his son and ruffled his hair playfully.

"Dad!" he cried, trying to fix his hair.

"It's no use trying to flatten it!" Lily retorted playfully.

"I'm a witch?" Hermione asked all three of them randomly. They looked at her blankly and Lily said, "Yes, I sense magic within your core. You're very powerful. Did you parents ever do magic?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, not that I know of."

"Then you must be a Muggle-Born," she said half to her and half to herself. "Like me."

"A what?"

"A 'Muggle-Born' is someone who has magic in them but whose parents didn't."

"This is just too much for me right now," she said feeling a headache coming on. She rubbed her temples in little circles with her fingers. "I need to go home. I need to check on my cat." She pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs off of the side of the bed and she stood up.

"Are you in pain?" Lily asked her. She shook her head. "No, ma'am. Could I borrow your phone? I would like to call a cab to come and get me."

"Oh, you don't need to do that, dear. We can drive you."

"I don't want to be a bother," she politely declined looking at the ground.

Harry had stood up. "You're not a bother, Hermione. We'd be happy to take you home." Hermione looked up at him. He was giving her that boyish half-smile again. She looked his parents, who were smiling as well. They were so nice. And if what they said was true, she could be a magical witch. It's not that she didn't want to take them up on their offer. She just didn't want them to see where she lived. They lived in what looked like an elegant home and she She sighed and nodded at them. "Okay."

* * *

Half an hour later, the three Potters and Hermione were standing in front of Hermione's apartment door. There was a white paper on the door. Stamped in red, it said, '_**Evicted**_'. Hermione closed her eyes in anguish, squeezing them tightly. Trying not to cry.

"I'm so sorry," came Harry's sad voice. Hermione wanted him to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight to him. She mentally shook her head. She had only known this boy for almost an hour.

Hermione unlocked the door to her house and opened the door. Immediately, an orange cat ran up to her and walked through her legs, brushing his fur against her legs. "Hey, Crookshanks." He meowed and she gave him a weak smile.

She turned to the Potters. "Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you. I think you'd better go now. I have to start packing."

"Do you have anywhere to go?" Lily asked her.

_'No'_ she wanted to say. "I'll find a place," was what she said.

"Mum, can she stay with us?" Harry asked his mother.

"Harry!" James chastised.

"No, that's a good idea," Lily said thoughtfully. She walked to the teenaged girl. "Would you like to live with us, Hermione? We could teach you about magic and help you to harness your powers?"

"I don't know, ma'am. I don't want to impose or anything," Hermione declined them again.

"You won't, Hermione," Harry said. "Please, you need a place to stay. We won't let you sleep on the streets." Once again he flashed her that boyish smile and Hermione had to accept their offer.

"Alright, but if you don't mind, I would like to help around the house," she looked at Lily when she said this, who nodded.

Harry and James shrunk all of her belongings-which wasn't much-and they put them in boxes. Hermione gave her key to her landlord as they left the building. James drove back to their house in Godric's Hollow.

"So, tell me more about our world," Hermione asked Lily petting Crookshanks' fur as they set off to her new home.

TBC...

* * *

**Sooo, what do you think? Should I continue? I know it seems that Hermione is accepting that she's a witch all too quickly, but she's just happy she has an explanation for all of the strange things that had happened when she was younger.**

**Need a good plot. I've got some ideas.**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	2. New World

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Redwoodx: I actually was going to have Harry have a little sister, but I changed my mind. However, he will have "cousins" and not Dudley. Hehe.**

**Yeah, I know it's moving fast. I'm gonna try to slow it down.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Also, its going to change perspective a lot in this story. From Hermione to Harry to Lily to James.**

**And in this story: Harry is older than Hermione by almost 2 months. It's set in 2011.**

**Chapter Two**

**New World**

Lily told Hermione all that was happening in their world. "Well, about seventeen years ago, a man named Lord Voldemort overthrew the Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold, and took control of the Magical government. His followers, the Death Eaters, are the cause of the green light murders. They were the ones that attacked you. All of the wizards and witches and magical creatures that are opposed to him are in hiding, like us. There was this school called Hogwarts, where children would go when they turned eleven and learn to harness their powers. However, when Voldemort came into power, he shut it down. My Harry wasn't able to go. And you weren't either. You didn't get your letter, therefore you didn't know you were a witch. But some of the families kept on teaching their children in secret. The Weasleys did. The Longbottoms did. The Bones did. We did. James started training Harry before he could barely stand or hold up a wand. But he's a good fighter." Her son blushed. He didn't like being talked about.

"So, you're like...a resistance?" Hermione asked.

"Basically, yes," Lily agreed.

"So, those are your wands?" she gestured to their sticks.

"Yes, we'll be needing to go and see Ollivander to get you one. That is, of course, if you want one."

Hermione shrugged. "If you say it's who I am, I guess I will accept it. Who's Ollivander?"

"Ollivander is a wandmaker. He escaped right when he got news that Voldemort had taken power. He knew they would come for him. He's hidden safely away from Voldemort and the Death Eaters," Lily explained. "We'll go and get you a wand this week maybe, if you want."

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Where are your parents, Hermione?" James asked.

"Oh, they're dead," she said solemnly. "They were murdered by Death Eaters-you call them-last year as they closed up their practice. They were dentists. I've been trying to get a job for a year now and there's been no luck. I couldn't keep my parents' house, so I had to sell it, and moved into the apartment. My inheritance went quickly to keeping up the rent. I even sold their practice. I sold anything I could. But I could never make enough money to live off of. I wanted to go to university, but I didn't have enough money."

"I'm really sorry," they all said.

She nodded, feeling tired again and she laid her head back against the head rest. Maybe she should take a small bit of information in a day. Everything was going too fast. Her head hurt again. Harry started staring at her as she closed her eyes.

He found her quite interesting. She was very beautiful. She had long, light brown locks that fell to the top of her chest. Her brown eyes sparkled like his favorite chocolate candy bar. Her rosy lips looked very kissable. She had a small frame and a lithe body. Harry was very attracted to her. Oh, yes, he was. He had seen many girls his age, but was never attracted to them as he was to Hermione. She intrigued him.

Lily smiled as she saw her son staring at their new house mate. He wasn't staring at her because she was new, like the new girl in school. Lily knew that look. She found it cute that her son liked her. When Harry saw his mother smiling at him, he blushed and turned around to face the front, as he was in the passenger seat.

* * *

When they got back to the Potter Manor, they unloaded all of Hermione's belongings. Harry, Lily, and James wouldn't let her carry anything in except her cat. They were happy to do this. Happy to help her out. After all she went through.

"I'll carry that," Hermione said reaching for the last box. Harry, however, beat her to it, grabbing it and holding it tightly. Not letting her take it from him.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione," he said softly. He turned and went inside.

Hermione fumed, angry with him. She wondered if she made a mistake coming here. She was imposing in on a young family and their lifestyle. They've been nothing but nice to her and here she was moving her belongings in. She thought about when she was ten years old and she had been in bed sick all day. Her mother forbade her to get out of the bed. However, there was a book she had wanted that was on the shelf, but she knew she shouldn't defy her Mum. She even crawled on her hands and knees to the edge of her bed and reached for it, even though it was across the room. Suddenly, the book had slid out from its spot on the bookshelf and floated into her hands. She had been a little scared, but still happy she had her book. Her mother was angry as she thought her ill daughter had gotten out of the bed. Hermione had tried to explain, but her Mum would have nothing of it.

Now she knew the explanation of it. Lily walked outside when Hermione didn't come in. "Hermione! Come inside!" The teenager sighed and walked into the manor to begin the rest of her life.

She was put in the room she had woken up in earlier that day. It was the perfect size for her. Three times as big as her room in her apartment. Her boxes were already in there. Harry walked into her room and asked her, "Would you like a tour of the house?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, if you don't mind." He took her around the manor, showing her every room in the house. Her favorite room, she found out, was the library. There were thousands upon thousands of books. Harry had told her he and his mother were avid readers and that she could read any book she wanted. Hermione took a few on the history of magic and about magic for her to read before she got a wand. It turned out that his room was right next to hers and that if she needed anything, he was right next door.

"W-would you like some help?" he asked as they got back to her room.

"Yes, could you resize everything for me?"

He smiled and complied, taking everything out from the boxes and enlarging them. All of the large belongings, like the couch and her bed, they kept small and put them in a safe place, as she didn't need them anymore. Hermione placed Crookshanks' bed against the wall to the right of her new bed.

Hermione thanked him as he left when she told him she could take it from there, and began to unpack, placing her clothes in drawers in the dresser and on hangers in the walk-in closet. She put all of her shampoos and toiletries in her own bathroom. She still could not believe all that had happened in a matter of hours. She had a new home with company. She had never lived with anyone else but her parents. Especially not complete strangers. Yet, she felt like she had been knowing this small family her whole life. She felt a strong energy emitting from them. It made her feel safe and comforted. When Hermione had finished unpacking, she went downstairs in search of Lily or James or Harry. It was about lunchtime now and she hadn't had anything to eat since the night before. She then realized that she had moved out of her apartment in the wee hours of the morning. She wondered if the Potters had slept at all.

She could hear noises from the dining room. Voices and clinking of silverware. She heard what sounded like jars being pushed across the table. "Oh, Harry, go get Hermione. Tell her it's time for lunch."

"Yes, Mum." Hermione heard someone getting up from the table. She stood frozen on the bottom step as Harry walked out of the dining room. He looked up to the white marble staircase and stopped himself as he saw her.

"Oh, hey, erm..." He blushed and ran his hand through his untidy, black hair nervously, staring at the ground. "...It's time for lunch."

"Okay, thank you," she said and followed him into the dining room. _'Why is he so nervous?'_ she thought to herself. The dining room was so beautiful. It had a long, wooden table that sat twelve people. Five chairs on each side and one on each end. Hermione wondered why they needed such a large table and so many chairs. They were only a family of three. James sat at the head of the table, his back to a window. Lily was sitting on her husbands left and her son across from her. On the table was sandwich bread, lunch meats; jars of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard; lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, and crisps.

Hermione sat in the empty chair next to Harry and he gave her a plate. "Thank you." He flashed her a smile back. Hermione began to make her sandwich the way she liked it. Lily took a bite of hers and asked her, "So, did you get everything unpacked?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Potter. Harry was kind enough to enlarge my belongings for me."

"First rule in this house, Hermione: my name is 'Lily' and this is 'James'. None of this 'Mr. and Mrs. Potter' crap," she said making everyone laugh. Suddenly, Hermione saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She looked up at the painting above the fireplace. She didn't know why she didn't see it before when Harry was showing her around. But the painting of the older couple was _moving_. "Th-the painting's moving!" she exclaimed pointing at it.

Lily smiled at her. "All magical portraits and photographs move. The portraits, however, are the only ones that can talk."

"_'Talk'_?" Hermione repeated.

"Yes, that painting up there are my parents," James spoke up. "Charlus and Dorea Potter. They died when I was twenty, right after Harry was born." He spoke to his parents. "Mum, Dad, meet our new house guest, Hermione Granger."

Hermione could see that James and Harry had gotten their pitch-black hair from Charlus Potter, however, it was graying a bit. He had brown eyes and wore strange clothes. His wife, Dorea, had dark, graying hair, and blue eyes. Her dress was a beautiful maroon color and fit lovely on her. They both smiled at her.

"Hello, welcome to the family, Hermione. I'm Charlus and this is my wife, Dorea," the elder man said.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hermione," Dorea said sweetly.

Hermione was still in shock of seeing the painting talking to her. She was glad when Lily spoke for her. "She's a Muggle-Born, we've concluded. She has never seen a moving or talking painting before."

"Oh, yes, it is quite something, isn't it?" Dorea asked rhetorically.

"Harry, you staying out of trouble?" Charlus asked his grandson, who nodded and said, "Yes, Grandpa, when I can. I went on my first auror mission last night. That's how I saved Hermione."

"Good on you, son!"

Suddenly, Dorea gasped as if she remembered something. "Oh! We need to speak to Minerva. She had wanted to talk to us about something. We'll see you later."

"Okay, goodbye!" the three Potters said as the two elder Potters left from the painting.

"Where'd they go?" Hermione asked.

"To see Minerva McGonagall. She used to be the Headmistress at Hogwarts before Voldemort took over. You see, Charlus and Dorea were close friends with her and she has an identical portrait of them in her home. They can move from painting to painting, just as long as someone has one," Lily explained. She looked at her husband. "I wonder what Minerva wants to talk to them about." James just shrugged and they continued to eat.

* * *

After lunch, Lily and Hermione went outside to lay in the beautiful spring sun, while James and Harry worked on rebuilding the storage shed that was outside. James' grandfather had built it and it was falling apart. The two women just watched them as they sat on the two-seater swing that was hanging from a big tree limb. Crookshanks was on his mistress' lap. James was a little angry at his wife. Since she was a Muggle-Born, she was used to doing labor without magic. She made him rebuild the shed without his wand. Nor Harry's.

Harry didn't mind the hard labor. It gave him time to think. To daydream. Harry James Potter was half of his mother and half of his father. Like his father, he loved to play Quidditch with him and his uncles. He was an excellent duelist. He loved to help his father play pranks on his mother and uncles and aunts. Most recently, he was attracted to a Muggle-Born.

However, he had a few more traits passed down from his mother. Like his mother, he loved to read and learn. His mind was always reeling and moving. Daydreaming. His imagination soaring high. He loved nature and the outdoors like his mother did. He didn't mind doing things by hand and not by wand. When he was younger, he used to help his mother wash the dishes. She would clean them in the sink and he would dry them and put them in their respective cupboards. He grew up in a world full of magic, while his mother grew up in a Muggle world, where there was no magic. He was always intrigued by his mother's adoptive world. He was glad his mother had several Muggle mechanisms in their home, like the television, or a DVD player, and films. Harry guessed he was actually more like his mother than his father.

The two men had finally removed all of the pieces of the old shed and put them in the rubbish pile. They had all of the lumber for the new shed ready to built. They just needed to figure out where everything went. Lily and Hermione were very amused by both of the men as they stood there puzzled a bit. "Harry, can you go and get the toolbox? It's by Hermione, next to the swing."

"Sure, Dad." The eighteen-year-old shyly walked over to his mother and Hermione on the swing and he bent down and picked up the toolbox that was on the ground next to Hermione's feet. He nervously looked at her a gave her a goofy grin. Then, he turned and walked back to his Dad and gave him the toolbox.

Hermione decided to ask Lily about her son, who was constantly glancing at her. But before she could open her mouth, Lily answered her unasked question, "Don't worry about Harry, dear. You see, since we are in hiding, we only see our friends maybe once or twice a year. We still communicate, but never see each other. Just our close friends do we see every day. But they live very close to us. So, therefore, Harry doesn't have any friends. You're the first friend he's ever had."

Hermione wanted to cry at how depressing that was. Harry was deprived of friends because an evil dictator had taken power. She had a few friends when she was in primary school, but never stayed friends with them. She smiled at Harry when he glanced at her again. He smiled back and their gazes were locked for a while.

"Harry, can you hand me a nail?" James' voice came from behind a wooden board. Harry, however, couldn't removed his gaze from Hermione's. He was locked on. Hooked. Entranced.

"Harry!" He still didn't hear.

"HARRY!" He jumped and looked at his father. "Pay attention, son!" The Potter patriarch chuckled a bit, so that his son knew that he didn't mean to shout like that.

He blushed again and focused on helping his father. "Sorry, Dad." He rushed a nail over to him.

_Hoot!_ Hermione looked up and saw an owl flying overhead with something in its beak. It looked like an envelope. That was strange. _'Don't owls sleep in the daytime?'_ she thought to herself. Like it found its master, the barn owl landed on the arm of the swing next to Lily. "Hello, Athena. Have you a letter for me from Tonks and Remus?" Lily took the envelope from the owl and said to Hermione, "This is one way we communicate with our friends. We send letters by owl. The owls are charmed so that only trustworthy people can see them because owls can be intercepted and we wouldn't want the wrong people reading them." She opened the letter and read it. She smiled, "James! Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and Lyra are coming to dinner tomorrow night to meet Hermione."

"Yes!" James fist pumped into the air.

At her name, Hermione looked up at the older woman. "Meet _me_?"

"Yes, of course. You are a part of our family now, right?"

"I guess," she whispered thoughtfully staring into space.

* * *

The next night was the big dinner. Hermione was getting butterflies. She took a shower and dressed in a nice outfit. She wore a short dress that had a white skirt with black lines going around it. The hem stopped just before her knee. The top was a light gray and was sleeveless. The whole dress was made of tweed. She wore matching gray high-heels with it. It was the nicest thing she owned. Her mother had given it to her on her seventeenth birthday before she died. It was her favorite outfit but she never got to wear it. She pulled half of her hair up and put a hair-slide to hold to back. She let some loose tendrils frame her face.

She put on some perfume and sighed as she looked in the mirror. Then, the doorbell rang. A few minutes later, there was a knock on her door. "Hermione...?" she heard from the other side of it. She recognized the voice.

She walked over and opened the door, her heels clacking on the wooden floor, smiling a bit at who it was. Harry dropped his jaw as he looked at her. Hermione thought he looked rather cute in his black slacks, his oxford shirt tucked into his pants, and his red tie around his neck. He wore black, dressy shoes with his outfit.

"Erm...my uncles, aunts, and cousins are here. You can come down when you're ready," he blushed as she caught him practically drooling over her. The eighteen-year-old girl nodded and said, "Okay." She followed him down the stairs into the foyer where they heard a multitude of voices, including children's voices, coming from the sitting room. They walked into the sitting room and there were seven new faces all sitting in chairs and couchs. They all stood up, except the children, when Harry and Hermione came in.

"Hermione, this is my Uncle Sirius; Aunt Lyra; their son, Orion; my Uncle Remus; my Aunt Nymphadora Tonks-but she prefers 'Tonks'-and their children, Teddy and Sophie. Everyone, this is Hermione Granger," Harry introduced.

"Hello, it's lovely to meet you," Hermione said and they all responded the same.

"Harry!" The little girl called Sophie, who looked to be about four or five years old, ran up to her older cousin. She was wearing a red and white plaid dress with white stockings and black ballet flats. A red bow was in her hair.

"Hey, Sophie!" Harry grinned and kissed the little girl's cheek. She had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She was very cute. Her brother, Teddy, looked to be about seven or eight. He had sandy blonde hair and the same blue eyes. However, Hermione noticed his hair changed frequently. She shook her head mentally, trying to get used to this magic thing. Orion was around the same age as Teddy. He had dark black hair-darker than Harry's-and blue eyes, as well.

"You are seeing my godson?" Sirius asked with a wink of his eye at the both of them, making them blush.

"No, we're just friends, Uncle Sirius," Harry said with a small smile on his face averting his face from meeting anyone else's.

"Yeah, uh-huh, sure," Sirius said not believing them one bit walking past them towards the dining room. "Shall we eat?" he grinned at everyone. Harry put Sophie on the ground and she ran to the dining room to find a spot. Teddy and Sophie sat in between their parents. Harry and Hermione were seated next to each other opposite the fireplace, with the former next to his father. James was at the head of the table. Lily was at the opposite. Next to Hermione was Lyra and then Sirius and Orion.

Hermione looked up at the painting and saw that James' parents were still not back. Lily had waved her wand and the food that she had cooked in the kitchen immediately appeared on the table in front of them. Once again, Hermione flinched a bit, causing Harry to give her an amused smile.

"So, Hermione, do you have any questions about our world?" Tonks asked her as they began eating their steak and kidney pie.

Hermione swallowed her bite and asked her, "Can you really turn into animals?" She had read earlier that day that wizards and witches could turn into animals.

They all looked at each other with a grin on their faces. Sirius wiped his mouth and stood up. He went to an open space in the dining room and all of a sudden, he morphed into a black dog. Hermione widened her eyes and gasped. Everyone chuckled, amused as he transformed back into a human and sat back down.

"Can I turn into an animal?" Hermione asked them.

"Yes, you can. Any wizard or witch can. Harry's actually going to start training in two weeks. We'll let you train with him," Lily said.

Hermione smiled, thinking of what training with Harry would be like.

* * *

Later that night, Hermione lay in her bed reading more about magic and spells. She found the Cruciatus Curse to be too painful to read about, so she skipped that part and would come back to it at a later time.

She heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called and the door opened. Harry stood there smiling at her in a pair of blue and whie plaid pajama pants and plain navy blue tee shirt. "Hey, Harry," she replied smiling back at him closing her book and putting it on her bedside table.

He kept her door open and came over and sat in the chair next to her bed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Trying to get used to all of..._this_." She gestured with her hands around her.

"It will get better. Most wizards and witches are kind of oblivious to what goes on in the Muggle world, as well."

"I never knew about magic or wizards or witches. I thought they were just in books. I never even guessed what I was doing was even magic. I just called it mind tricks," Hermione said in disbelief.

"Mum can sense magic. That's how she knew you were a Muggle-Born. She was in shock when she sensed yours."

"Why? Is there something wrong with me?"

Harry looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "You're very powerful, Hermione. Your magic is so extreme Mum said it equals mine. We have almost ten times the magic in our blood than most magicfolk. Magic doesn't run out, but everyone has a level of power."

"'Equal'?" she repeated.

"Yes."

She processed this in her head. Harry had fought those Death Eaters when he had saved her two days ago. She had been on the brink of unconsciousness, but she had seen the power and magic that came out of him. He was powerful. She was to _equal_ him? She couldn't believe it. She laid her head down on her pillow, faced Harry.

"Get some sleep, Hermione. We are to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow," he said with another smile. "Goodnight."

He stood up and left the room, shutting the door.

"Goodnight, Harry," she said back but he was already gone.

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 2. Hoped you liked it!**

**I know its moving fast, but I can't help it!**

**Next chapter: Diagon Alley**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	3. Training

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Redwoodx: Yes, we will get to see Luna, Neville, the Weasleys, and Susan. Probably soon.**

**In a way, I guess it is like WWII and occupied France.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Okay, so Diagon Alley was taken by Death Eaters, but its not really heavily enforced, it'll be explained.**

**Chapter Three**

**Training**

The three Potters and Hermione went by car to Muggle London the next day and went into the Leaky Cauldron, a wizarding pub. It was black and dank, but warm with spirit. They said "hello" to Tom the barkeeper and then went to a storage room in the back that had two random boxes on the floor and a brick wall, which they stood in front of. Harry leaned to Hermione and said, "Diagon Alley used to be a thriving Wizarding shopping center. You could buy wands, magical books, owls, broomsticks. The wizarding bank, Gringotts, used to be run by goblins. Now, Muggles can probably go in and not suspect anything," he said bitterly. "Don't worry. It was taken over, but we will not be detected. All of the Death Eaters normally hang out in Knockturn Alley anyway," he reassured her, making her nod.

James tapped his wand on the bricks. However, he tapped on _specific _bricks. Hermione furrowed her brow. _'What was _that _about?'_ she thought to herself. Then, her question was answered as the bricks began to move aside and created an archway for them to walk into a long-cobbled street with shops and large buildings. There were a few people there on the street, but not many. "Welcome, Hermione, to Diagon Alley," Lily said with a grim look to the young woman, who looked at it in awe.

The four of them walked through the archway and onto the street. Hermione looked back at the brick archway, only to find it sealing itself back up. No going back now. "Good, no Death Eaters here today," James said looking around cautiously.

Hermione glanced at all of the shops and realized that Harry was right. In these shops, they sold materials like Muggle books, dogs, cats, sunglasses, even a store in which they sold comic books. In the past few days, Hermione had come to recognize some of the things in the Potter Manor and none of these shops sold any of it. The only thing that most likely would give anything away would be the shop names. There was "Flourish & Blotts", a bookstore; "Magical Menagerie" sold pets like rabbits and dogs and birds; "Quality Quidditch Supplies" was one of the only shops that still had its original sellings, according to Harry. It sold broomsticks, quidditch uniforms, strange looking balls, and other things Hermione thought were a bit strange. Quidditch, she found out, was a Wizarding sport played on broomsticks. It was Harry and James' favorite sport. Lily and Hermione were amused as they drooled over the latest broomstick that was in the shop window, the _Thunderbolt 3000_. "Mum, can we get one?"

"Yeah, Mum, can we get one?" James repeated his son's question to his wife humorously. He was just like a seven-year-old on Christmas.

"Maybe for Christmas," she rolled her eyes. _'Not a chance'_ she thought to herself, but happy she could make them grin. "Now, come on, we've got to get Hermione some more clothing." Hermione had agreed for the Potters to take her to Diagon Alley to buy her some clothes if Lily agreed to let her do the laundry for a month.

"Why don't you two go on ahead and Harry and I will look in here? We'll meet you at Florian Fortescue's for some ice cream in an hour," James suggested.

"Oh, alright," Lily agreed and she and Hermione made their way down the street to "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions". They walked in and Hermione noticed it looked just like a Muggle clothing store. There were jeans, blouses, tee shirts, and even beautiful dresses on the walls. Although, in a back room, Hermione found the strange clothing Lily and James sometimes wore.

A woman in mauve robes walked up to them. "Hello, Lily. What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Madam Malkin. This is Hermione. She needs some new clothes. We were just going to look around," the Potter matriarch responded with a smile.

"Alright, then, call me over if you need." The older woman walked away to her cash register.

"Go ahead, Hermione. Pick anything you want."

The teenaged young woman bit her lip nervously. There were so many lovely things to pick. But she didn't want Lily to spend too much money on her. Lily sensed her hesitation, rolled her eyes again, and said, "Hermione, don't even think about it. Get whatever you want."

She nodded and looked at the first rack. In the end, Lily bought Hermione four new nice tops, two tee shirts, two new jeans, three dresses, and three pajama pants. It barely cost fifty galleons. It was nothing to Lily. Madam Malkin boxed up all of her new clothes and put them in a bag. Hermione took it from her and thanked Lily.

"How's business, Madam?" Lily asked sincerely.

"It's alright. I've been watching my back lately. More murders have occurred in London. You keep safe now, Lily."

"You, too, Madam Malkin. And thank you."

"Thank you!" Hermione called out as they left the shop. She had some questions for Lily, but didn't want to ask her now. Maybe later when they sat down.

"Come, let's go get some ice cream," she said with a motherly smile. Hermione smiled back and they made their way to Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

* * *

"You like Hermione," James taunted his son with a large grin as they walked out of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Harry blushed and looked down at the street. Yet, his father could see that he had the biggest grin on his face.

"Shut up, Dad. I do not."

"Whatever. Deny it. But you know it's true."

His father was right. There was something about her that appealed to Harry. She was beautiful beyond compare. Her eyes were the color of almonds and when their eyes met, it was like time stopped and only the two of them were there. He could just melt in her. She was the sweetest woman he had ever met in his life. He wanted to curse the world for being cruel to her. She had had only bad luck for most of her short life. _'Maybe there's only good luck left' _he thought to himself.

Harry spotted her and his mother as they walked toward Florian Fortescue's. He waved at them and they waved back. When they got close enough, Lily asked with a raised eyebrow and a pointed look, "So, did you two buy anything?"

"No, of course not. We'd be stupid to disobey your orders. But we see you two have," James nodded to Hermione's bag.

"Yes, we bought her some clothes. It was..._essential_. Unlike a new broomstick," she said with a soft smile and they went inside.

"That was a low blow," James muttered under his breath.

"I heard you!" His wife retorted amusedly as they went pick out some ice cream. "Hello, Florian!"

"Lily! James! Harry! What brings the great Potters to my shop?" a chunky, happy-looking, middle-aged man said coming out from the back of the shop.

"Ice cream," Harry said simply.

Florian chuckled and asked them for their orders. James got a plain chocolate cone. His wife got a plain strawberry cone. Harry got a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough in cup. Hermione ordered a strawberry cheesecake in a cup, as well.

When all four of them had gotten their ice cream and sat down, Hermione asked, "If the Death Eaters hate Muggles so much, why did they make Diagon Alley almost a Muggle shopping centre?"

"Well, they are afraid that the Muggle-Borns and 'blood traitors' are going to overpower them. So, they keep as much magical things out of easy reach as possible," Lily replied truthfully with a solemn look. "Would you like to get your wand tomorrow?"

Hermione nodded. "If you don't mind."

"We don't."

* * *

The next day was Hermione's first experience in using the Floo Network. It was very interesting. James went first to show her. He grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder from the flower pot next to the fireplace. Then he stood in the fireplace and threw the powder onto the ground, shouting, "Ollivander's!" Hermione jumped as green flames shot up and engulfed James. When they died down, she widened her eyes as she realized he was gone.

"Harry, you go next," Lily said. He nodded and stepped into the fireplace after grabbing a pinch of Floo Powder. He looked at Hermione and smiled, "Don't be scared. It's gonna be okay, Hermione." That reassured her a bit and he did the same thing James did.

He was gone.

"Alright, Hermione, you go next and I'll be right behind you." Lily gestured with her head to the fireplace. Hermione nodded and grabbed a pinch of the powder. She stepped into the fireplace. She took a deep breath, threw the powder on the ground, and shouted, "Ollivander's!"

She screamed as she felt as if she was being taken on a wild ride. She was spinning in circles. Just when she was getting dizzy, she shot out of another fireplace. She shrieked as she began to fall. However, Harry quickly caught her in his arms.

She heard a scratchy laugh. "The boy's good with his hands!" That comment made Harry blush madly as it sounded suggestive. Hermione righted herself, putting herself back on her feet, and looked at him.

"You okay?" he asked concerned.

"Can we take another way back?" she chuckled.

"We'll see what we can do," James replied as Lily came out of the fireplace gracefully. It was then that Hermione realized that she was covered in soot. She looked down at her new baby-blue top and frowned, disappointed she ruined her new shirt.

"_Scourgify!_" came Lily's voice and the soot was gone. Good as new. She did the same to herself. James and Harry were already clean.

Hermione took this time to look around where she was. She saw an elderly man with eyes that had large, cloudy pupils, that reminded her of the Moon. He had gray hair that stood up around his head like a lion's mane and he was wearing what looked like an early eighteenth century suit. "Hermione, this is Mr. Ollivander. A wand-maker. Ollivander, this is Hermione Granger. She needs a wand," James introduced.

"Why didn't you come to me when you were eleven, child?" he asked her as she looked around. His house _was_ his shop. Thousands and thousands of long boxes were stacked high up on shelves. _'He must work all the time'_ Hermione thought to herself.

"She's a Muggle-Born," came Lily's voice.

"Ah," he replied knowingly. "Let's measure you, shall we? Hold out your arms."

Hermione furrowed her brow but held out her arms on her sides. A tape measure was floating around by itself erratically and spastically. Measuring her arms from fingertip to fingertip. Her right arm to her right shoulder. Her forearm. From her elbow to her shoulders. All of these strange measurements. Hermione wondered why this could be important. After a few minutes, he was finished and he sighed, looking at her. She was wondering what he was thinking.

"Ah! I have just the one," he said walking over to a shelf and pulling a long, skinny box. The cover of it was green and looked very old. He blew on it and dust flew everywhere. "Ten and three-fourths inches. Vine wood. Dragon heartstring core. Lovely wand, my dear." He pulled the cover off and took the wand out of the box. It was a dark brown sort of color with vine embedded into the hilt. A very beautiful wand. He held it out to Hermione, who took it with her right hand.

She felt a warm sensation as she held it in her hand. Like it was made for her. Like it became a part of her in that moment. She smiled as it consumed her. A soft, golden glow began to surround her and a small breeze flew through her hair. The glow got brighter and brighter until the Potters and Ollivander had to squint a bit. "Feels good, doesn't it?" Harry whispered in her ear softly as the glow died down. She nodded, agreeing that holding her wand was an amazing feeling.

"Yeah, yeah, it does."

"Congratulations, Miss Granger!" Ollivander exclaimed with a smile. "Although, I've never seen a glow that bright before. Not since Harry, of course."

Hermione glanced at Harry with a knowing look. Maybe their powers _were_ meant to match. "Thank you, Mr. Ollivander," she said as she looked back at the wand-maker. James paid the fifteen galleons and three sickles for her wand. Hermione had asked what the price was in Muggle currency. However, none of them answered her. They didn't want her to pay them back. They wanted to buy her a wand.

* * *

Hermione was to start her wand training the next day promptly at eight am. The Potters had a training room in their Manor, which made it all the easier. The three Potters and Hermione ate a healthy, hearty breakfast in the dining room (all four of them noticed that James' parents still hadn't come back in the painting) and went to the training room to get started. When they arrived, Lily conjured a wooden stool in the middle of the room and a white quill on top of it. Hermione was confused as to why she did that.

"Alright, the first spell we're going to teach you is _Wingardium Leviosa_. What is does is-" Lily was cut off by Hermione.

"-levitates objects," Hermione finished for her without thinking about it. She widened her eyes and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I read all of the books about spells."

"That's quite alright, Hermione. That's good. Now this process can speed up. What you do is you make a swish and flick with your wand. Like this..." Lily held up her wand, pointed it at the quill, and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." She made a "swish and flick" motion with her wand and the quill that was on the stool rose up. She guided it with her wand up towards the ceiling. The younger woman smiled as she watched up go up and and up and up. Lily slowly brought it down back down onto the stool.

"You try now." Lily moved out of the way and Hermione stood in her spot. She was a little nervous, but a little confident of herself. She pointed her wand at the quill and made the swish and flick movement saying, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." She felt the magic course through her veins. Her blood. It felt amazing. The quill rose up into the air and she smiled.

"You did it, Hermione!" Lily praised. All three of them were grinning at her.

Hermione learned all of the First and Second Year spells all in the first day. They were quite simple and she was quite good at them. Once she learned the Disarming Spell and the Shield Charm, she and Harry duelled, something James and Lily were very excited to see.

"I'll go easy on you," he promised her. She nodded and the two walked towards each other and bowed. Then they turned around and walked an equal distance away from each other, about twenty feet.

"Wands at the ready," James said. Both Harry and Hermione pointed their wands at each other, in their dueling stance.

"GO!"

"_Expelliarmus!_"

"_Expelliarmus!_"

"_Protego!_"

Harry's wand flew out of his hand and he was blasted off of his feet. He hit the wall with a loud grunt and then fell to the ground, groaning. Hermione had casted the Shield Charm as her dueling partner's Disarming Spell came towards her. It died as it hit her Shield Charm. When she saw what had happened, she widened her eyes and cried out, "Harry!" She rushed over to him on the ground. She hit her knees as she got to his side. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine," he responded sitting up. "Don't worry." He stood up and his parents smiled.

"Don't worry about Harry, Hermione. He's a cockroach. Nothing can kill him," James teased making Harry blush again.

"Again!" his father barked.

* * *

Hermione learned all of the spells she was to learn if she had went to Hogwarts in four days. And she had mastered all of them. She even "met" her Patronus. It was a young doe, like Lily's, however hers was a little smaller and looked a little bit different than Lily's. Harry showed her his young buck, which jumped around and ran with the silvery doe before evaporating into thin air. She decided that she rather liked magic. It was a part of her. And she liked that Lily was a Muggle-Born herself so that she could keep some pieces of her homeworld with her forever.

Hermione read about Patronuses the night she had seen hers. Patronuses were very different than Animagi. Usually, someone's Animagi wasn't the same their Patronus. Hermione wondered what her Animagi would be. She was to start training next week with Harry for it and she couldn't wait.

The next morning, Hermione began to work on the laundry, like she had promised Lily, who told her they usually did laundry on Thursdays. Hermione blushed as she put a pair of Harry's red-and-white checkered boxers into the washing machine. Once all of the dark clothes were in, she put the detergent in, shut the door, turned it on, and put the basket of white clothes on top of it for later. She walked out of the laundry room and shut the door, only to...

...collide with a warm, yet strong body. "Oh!" she cried out as a pair of arms caught her before she hit the ground. She looked up at who caught her and gasped as she stared at her catcher's beautiful green eyes. Harry. Her new friend was standing there with his hair unkempt and in a pair of blue-and-white pajama pants and a plain white tee shirt.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said as he righted her to her feet. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "What were you doing?"

"Laundry, like I promised your mother," she answered.

"Hermione, you really don't have to do that," he said as they made their way toward the kitchen. "We're happy to have you. We're not asking for anything in return."

"I know, but if I don't do something nor pay rent-which I can't-then it will only bother me," she said with a troubled look. Harry began on making breakfast, taking a carton of eggs out of the refridgerator, and a loaf of bread from the bread basket.

"Then, don't let it bother you. Just...enjoy and try to put up with me," he said with a small smile.

Hermione gave an amused one back. "There's nothing to put up, Harry. Stop talking about yourself that way. Honestly, you're so mean to yourself." She lightly swatted his arm at his humility, yet admiring it.

Harry put a pan on the stove and turned it on, igniting it. Then, a tap came on the window. It was a barn owl with a letter. "Hermione, could you get that?"

"Sure," she said and then waved her wand, impressing him at opening the window nonverbally. The owl flew in and Hermione took the letter from its beak and read who it was for. "It's for your parents. I'll put it on the table for them." She went into the dining room and put it on the table between James and Lily's spot.

Harry made scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for all four of them. He and Hermione went into the dining room and sat down to eat. Not five minutes later, Lily walked in and sat down at the table. "Good morning, you two!" She loaded her plate and opened the letter.

"Good morning, Mum."

"Good morning, Mrs. Potter."

"I told you, Hermione, I don't answer to that name," the Potter matriarch responded, reading the letter. Hermione blushed, "Sorry, Lily."

"That's better."

"Who is it, Mum?" Harry asked gesturing to the letter.

"Minerva. She said that James' parents are still talking with her. It's quite important, but they are not going to share it with us just yet. Not until they know something more. They don't want this information-whatever it is-to fall into the wrong hands," she answered taking a bite of her eggs.

"It must be serious," was all Harry said.

"Yes, indeed." Hermione saw that Lily had a thoughtful look on her face. "It must be."

TBC...

* * *

**Well, hoped you liked this chapter. Harry and Hermione's relationship/friendship is progressing. Yay! Aren't Lily and James funny? Haha.**

**Anyway, next chapter: Animagus**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	4. Animagus

**Hey, thanx for the reviews!**

**Jarno: Yeah, I know. But she's powerful. Plus, he DID say he was going to go easy on her.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**So, I just saw I Am Number Four and got inspiration. Hehe.**

**Chapter Four**

**Animagus**

A week later, Hermione woke up at eight o'clock and went downstairs for breakfast. It was strange. Usually, James or Harry had breakfast already made when she got down every morning. She didn't smell any food cooking nor heard pots and pans clanging. Where were they? Lily came down the stairs, meeting her at the bottom. "Good morning, Hermione," she greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning, Lily. Where's Harry? And James?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, the Order called them in early this morning. Before dawn. There was an attack in London and they responded," she replied as she walked to the kitchen to cook breakfast herself. Hermione followed her, wanting to know if she knew anything. "Well, is everyone okay?" she asked eagerly. "Is anyone hurt?"

"I don't know," she answered with a sad voice, avoiding the young woman's gaze. Hermione guessed it was hard being the wife and mother of Aurors, even when she was an Auror herself. She never knew if she would ever see them again. Harry meant a lot to Hermione. She wouldn't know if she could survive if something bad had happened to him. "Come now, I'll cook us some pancakes for breakfast." Lily squeezed Hermione's shoulder for reassurance for both her new houseguest and herself.

Soon, the smell of chocolate chip pancakes filled the kitchen and dining room. Lily chose to cook by hand, leaving her wand in her bathrobe pocket. Not using it once. Hermione watched her cook, sitting on the counter next to her and conversing with her. "When do you think James' parents are going to come back?"

"I don't know, Hermione. It's been almost a week. I don't know what could be so important," she said calmly flipping a pancake over.

"Doesn't that worry you? Not knowing?"

Lily looked up at the young woman. Hermione saw worry lines and the stress that only a mother would have. "I've gotten used to not knowing things. The less you know, the more people are safe. Such as you. You're new to this world, Hermione. Innocent. You're a great fighter, but Death Eaters will stop at nothing until they get what they want."

Hermione nodded. "Who are they really after?"

"Muggles. And Muggle-Borns. You can tell why James wants me to stay home a lot. They consider Muggles to be filth. But Muggle-Borns...are lower than that. James wants to keep me safe all the time. So, when he leaves to go on a mission, he'll get me busy with something. I hate it. But it makes him feel better. Occasionally, I'll fight and he'll let me go with him. But other times, I just stay here."

Suddenly they heard two loud _pops_. "Lily?" they heard the familiar voice of James call out.

"In here, James!" she called back.

They heard two sets of footsteps and Hermione jumped to the ground off of the counter as James and Harry walked into the kitchen. Lily turned around and gasped in relief. "Oh, James! Harry!" she cried out.

Both father and son were dirty and covered in soot. "We got 'em, Mum," Harry said. He had cuts and blood all over his face. His clothes were dirty and ripped. His father looked the same, yet both had grins on their faces. Lily hugged her husband tightly. "Thank Merlin you two are alright!" Once she let go of James, she hugged her son, who hugged her back.

Hermione found this tender moment heartbreaking and a tear escaped her eye. Harry looked at her over his mother's shoulder and smiled slightly. She gave a weak one back. "Alright, both of you go shower and we'll have breakfast," Lily ordered as she let go of her son.

Harry gave her one last look before he and his father went take showers.

* * *

"Alright, Harry, Hermione, close your eyes," James said a few days later. All four of them were in the training room. Harry and Hermione were sitting in the middle of the room facing each other. "Clear your mind. Don't think of anything. Just allow your mind to be blank."

Both teenagers did as they were told, but were still conscious that the other was across from them. "Just meditate. Think of nothing. Think of only breathing. In. And out. In. And out. In. And out."

They did this for a few days. Just breathing and meditating. It was really nice for the both of them. They could feel each other. Feel one another's aura and magic pulsating the atmosphere as they breathed. Both teenagers felt a lot more relaxed after meditating. Harry, however, fell asleep a few times and his father poured cold water on him from his wand. The two women were very amused by the men.

"I don't understand this breathing and meditating stuff," Harry said offhandedly one night as they laid in Hermione's room. Both teens were lying on their backs on her bed, staring at the ceiling as they chatted. Harry kept his distance so that she would be more comfortable.

"It's to open our minds. We can't go looking for the animal. It has to come to us when it's ready," she answered intelligently. "Have you ever been to the zoo, Harry?"

"Yeah. Once when I was eleven."

"Well, if you are by-let's say-a lion and you are very tense and uncomfortable, it will maybe charge or not come around you. However, if you are calm and confidant, it will probably let you pet it."

"So, whay you're saying is that we have to be relaxed for the animal to come to us?" he asked her.

"Yes. But just for the first time. Once it comes to you, then you can transform at will."

"Hermione, I've lived in the Wizarding World all my life and you've been in it for a week. How do you know all of this?"

"I read," she said simply.

"Me, too. But I don't know this."

"Maybe you weren't reading the right books," she responded and he shrugged.

"How was the mission a few days ago?" she asked him as she realized she didn't before. She looked sideways at her friend, who stared up at the ceiling in thought.

"It was fine. We saved a little girl and her mother. They were so scared. We were outnumbered at first. But then, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, Arthur Weasley, and Frank Longbottom came and helped us."

"It must be scary," Hermione pointed out gazing at the scar on his forehead that he had gotten from the attack. It was going away, but it would be a few more weeks before it went away completely.

"It is. But when I saw that look on that little girl's face. I wasn't afraid anymore. I realized this little girl must be more scared than me. I didn't want anything to happen to her," he replied with a thoughtful look on his face.

Hermione smiled at his bravery. She leaned over and kissed his temple, making the both of them blush. "I-I better get to bed," Harry stuttered getting up from her bed. "G-goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Harry," she replied as she watched him leave her room, shutting the door behind him. Hermione sighed and got under her covers. She turned out her lamp and laid down against her pillow, letting her dreams enter her head and carry her to another world.

* * *

"Alright, today, we're going to see if your animals will appear to you," James said the next day in the training room. "Close your eyes. And relax. Calm and sweet soothing breathing. Try to see if your animal has come to you, yet." Lily watched as her son and their new houseguest sat on the floor of the training room. She knew about their late-night talks in Hermione's room. She'd hear the both of them talking about random things. She'd hear a few laughs and teases. She knew they weren't _doing _anything, which made her happy. She'd raised Harry to be modest and respecting toward women.

Hermione did as James told her. She looked and looked. All she saw was black. So, she decided to call to her animal in her mind. "_Is anyone there? Hello? Don't be shy._" Suddenly, she heard the padding of feet coming closer and closer. Purring followed. She saw a bright, white light slowly become visible in her vision. And her animal showed itself.

It was a beautiful golden-brown lioness. She had a kind, strong face and she recognized her chocolate-brown eyes. The lioness got closer and closer. Hermione wasn't scared. She let the animal envelope her and she began to feel her bones changing. It hurt at first, but not for long. Soon, she was on all fours. She opened her eyes and flinched back as she stared right into a black panther's emerald-green ones.

_Hermione?_ It asked her.

She recognized the voice. _Harry? Is that you?_

_Yeah. We did it._

_Oh, my God!_ She shrieked to him in her head. _We're both big cats!_

_Yeah. This is strange._ He began to walk around her, looking her up and down. _Very nice, Hermione._

_You look rather nice yourself, Harry_, she responded looking him up and down, as well. She used her nose to smell new senses she hadn't felt before. She smelled aromas and...emotions. She felt Lily and James' excitement from seeing the both of them in their Animagus forms. She sensed Harry's elation from being able to be quick as lightning. He started to jump around. High on life. Hermione heard him actually giggle and she gave one back. She jumped on him and tussled him to the ground playfully.

_Oh, that's how you want to play, huh?_ she heard him ask. They playfully wrestled each other to the ground until James cleared his throat and broke them up. "Okay, we need to practice changing back into human form. Just think of yourself as a human and you'll change back."

Hermione closed her eyes and did as she was told. She felt her limbs changing and reshaping. When she opened them, she found herself back in her own form in her clothes. She grinned and watched as Harry changed back, as well. However...

"Er, son, you forgot your clothes..." James pointed out to his naked son.

Harry looked down at himself and immediately brought his hands to cover his crotch. But not before Hermione had a view of exactly how big of a wand he had down there. _'Wow'_ she thought to herself. The two teens blushed again and Harry closed his eyes and his clothes appeared back on him again.

They practiced changing forms a few more times until they could do it with just one single thought.

Harry avoided Hermione for the rest of the day. Too embarrassed to look at her.

* * *

Two weeks later, Hermione, the Potters, the adult Blacks and the Lupins were all in Muggle London patrolling. They had gotten a tip from the Order of the Phoenix headquarters that a mob of Death Eaters were going to attack in London. They had called in for reinforcements. Hermione met Frank, Alice, and Neville Longbottom, who was her age; Arthur, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Ginny Weasley. They were all redheads. Ron Weasley was Harry and Hermione's age. Harry explained to her that they would have been in the same year as Neville and Ron. Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood were the last to arrive. Luna and her father had white-blond hair and carried an aura of eccentricity, but Hermione thought they were lovely. The Weasleys, the Lovegoods, and the Longbottoms were close neighbors so Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Ron were great friends. In fact, Neville and Ginny were dating and so were Luna and Ron. Harry felt a little put out a bit.

"So, you're the new Muggle-Born Miss Lily and Mr. James took in?" Ginny asked Hermione smiling.

"Yes, my name is Hermione Granger," she held out her hand politely.

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione. Is this your first mission? It's my second."

Hermione glanced at Harry. He looked away and she knew he had heard Ginny. Harry was very touchy about her going on a mission with them.

_Hermione suggested at dinner one night, "I was thinking...on your next mission...can I come?" All three Potters stopped eating to look at her as she asked her question. James and Lily had the same expression on their faces. They looked at each other, searching each other's faces for any protest. There was none. Harry, however, was glaring at her. She wondered why he was looking at him like that._

_"I don't see why not," James replied._

_"No, Dad. You can't let her go with us!" Harry cried out._

_"Why not? We could use her brains and battle strategies. She's a great duelist, Harry. You can't deny that."_

_"I'm not denying that, Dad. She's amazing, but she could get hurt."_

_Lily flickered her eyes from Harry to Hermione, then back to her son. _'He's his father's son_' she thought to herself as James did the same with her. Harry wanted to protect Hermione, just like James always wanted to protect her._

_Hermione appreciated Harry's concern, but was a little angry at him for protesting like that when she was more than capable of taking care of herself._

_"Harry, Hermione is going on our next mission if she wants to or not. You'll just have to deal with it."_

_Harry glowered and finished his dinner in silence. Hermione actually cried that night when Harry didn't come to her room for their regular midnight talk._

That had been a week ago. Since then, Harry had been walking on eggshells around her. He talked to her, but usually business. Hermione missed the old Harry and wanted him back. "Alright, everyone, lay low for a while. We'll split into pairs," James ordered. "Lily and I. Sirius and Lyra. Tonks and Remus. Frank and Alice. Arthur and Percy. Bill and Charlie. Neville and Ginny. Ron and Luna. And Harry and Hermione. Act casual. There are a lot of people here tonight and someone can get hurt if we're not careful. If trouble should spring, regroup."

They all nodded and separated into different directions. Harry and Hermione walked down the street toward Piccadilly Circus. "I'm really sorry I've been avoiding you," Harry spoke up running a hand through his pitch-black hair.

Hermione nodded. "Hey, it's okay."

"I just didn't want anything to happen to you. You're my first ever friend. I didn't want to lose that," he said sweetly, making Hermione want to swoon.

"Thanks, Harry."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bright, red light shot toward the brightly-lit screens, causing them to erupt and shoot sparks. Everyone began to scream as more curses were shouted. Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and led her to an alley. "_Expecto Patronum!_" Harry shouted. His stag appeared in front of them. "To the Potters. Blacks. Weasleys. Lovegoods. Lupins. Longbottoms. Piccadilly Circus. They're here!" His stag disappeared into thin air.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione whispered to him.

"We wait until they come. We can't take them by ourselves," he replied sadly. There were people dying right now just a couple of hundred feet from them, but they could not help them as they were outnumbered. They stayed behind a dumpster until the rest of the Order members got there. Harry heard his father shout the Stunning Curse and that was when the two teenagers jumped out of the alley and got into the fight.

They fought side by side. Stunning Curses. Jinxes. Hexes. Going left and right. Protection Charms. Harry would defend Hermione as much as he could. She was doing amazingly for her first mission. She took down two Death Eaters in her first ten minutes.

It wasn't until a Death Eater had shouted, "_Expelliarmus!_" did Hermione react slowly. Her wand flew out of her hand and she widened her eyes in horror. She backed up and dodged all of the curses he threw at her.

"Prepare to die, Mud-Blood!" he sneered at her. "_Avada Kedevra!_" A green light shot towards her. She closed her eyes and tensed up, waiting for the spell that would take her life. But it never came.

She heard a growl. A scream. Slashing of claws and a whimper.

She opened her eyes and saw a black panther lying on the ground. "Harry..." she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. Another Death Eater came to his fellow dark wizard's rescue and sent a Slashing Hex to Harry, who howled in pain. Suddenly, he morphed back into a human. However, he forgot his clothes this time again.

He was sweating and full of blood. He groaned in pain. The Death Eaters started to retreat and the Order had won. But no one cheered. For everyone was concerned about the poor boy that had sacrificed himself for his friend.

"Harry...!" Hermione ran over to him and knelt down next to him. She took off her jacket and covered his lower body with it. She ran a soft hand on his cheek. "Harry...that was so stupid."

"You're safe now," he said smiling laid his head back down on the ground. He was still breathing but tired as he fell asleep.

All of the Order members crowded around the two teens. Bill looked at his brother Charlie and asked him,

"You saw him jump in front of that Killing Curse didn't you?"

Charlie looked down at Harry and widened his eyes.

"Yeah."

TBC...

* * *

**Dun Dun Dun! Haha. Well, there's chapter 4. Hope you liked it!**

**Usually, an Animagus is the same as a person's Patronus. But not in my stories. Hope you like Harry and Hermione's friendship developing.**

**Next chapter: maybe find out what's happening with McGonagall and the elder Potters**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	5. Survivor

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**RedwoodX: Yes, they take them down with Stunning Curses. That'll all be explained.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Just want to say: I have absolutely no clue where this story is taking me. Haha. I'm writing by feeling. I know some elements. Some key points, but all the things leading up to them is made up on the spot. Writing's a little difficult, but so much fun bc even the writer is surprised with the ending.**

**"Veritas" is Latin for "truth". I tried to find the latin word for justice, but I never write anything I can't pronounce. Haha.**

**Kinda short.**

**Chapter Five**

**Survivor**

_Previous_

_All of the Order members crowded around the two teens. Bill looked at his brother Charlie and asked him,_

_"You saw him jump in front of that Killing Curse didn't you?"_

_Charlie looked down at Harry and widened his eyes._

_"Yeah."_

James, Lily, and Hermione immediately apparated Harry home to tend to his wounds. The rest of the Order members called back up to help them remove the immobilized bodies of the Death Eaters and move them to Veritas-the prison where all the Death Eaters are sent and were going to the Potter Manor after to talk about what they had seen. Hermione wondered why the Order did not kill the Death Eaters. They killed all of their family members. Wouldn't they want justice? Hermione decided to question about it later.

Harry was laid on his bed. Everyone was still in shock that he had survived the Killing Curse. But true enough, Harry laid there on his bed, his skin warm, his chest rising and falling with every breath. Hermione looked away as James took off Hermione's jacket and put a pair of pajama pants on him. Lily immediately banished the jacket to the laundry and then tended to her son's wounds. She cleaned all of the blood away from his torso and then sealed his wounds back up, leaving scars. She covered his body with his bedsheets and kissed his forehead. Then she looked at her husband and Hermione, then back to James.

"We need to talk about this. Our son just survived the Killing Curse. Something _no one_ has done before."

"There's no mark on him from it. The _Slashing Hex_ left him scars. But the Killing Curse-nothing," James agreed pulling back the sheets to check his son again to see if he missed anything, but there was nothing. "I'm _sure _it hit him in the chest. I saw it. All these scars are identical and they're from the Slashing Hex." He covered Harry back up and looked at his wife. "Do you think it has anything to do with being an Animagus?"

Hermione spoke up, "It can't be. Animagi can be killed in their animal form, even by the Killing Curse. Harry's never been hit with the Curse before, has he?"

James shook his head. "No, never. This certainly is a miracle."

"We'll talk about this more when the others get here," Lily said gazing at her son with a sad look. Hermione grabbed the chair at his desk and turned it so that it was right next to his bed, and she sat in it, waiting for him to wake up.

"I'm going wait by the fireplace for the others to get here." Lily left the room and James followed after her, leaving Hermione with an unconscious Harry. She gazed upon his peaceful face as he rested.

_'Why did you jump in front of that Curse for me, Harry? That was so stupid'_ she thought to him.

Five minutes later, he began to stir. He groaned and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were Hermione's brown eyes. He smiled at the sight of them. "Harry...are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, what happened?"

"You transformed into your animal form and attacked a Death Eater. Then you got the Slashing Hex by another. Harry..." She leaned forward and seriously told him, "...you were hit with the Killing Curse."

His eyes widened. "What? But I'm-"

"-Not dead. Yeah, we know," she finished for him. "Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah, I feel great. How about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she shook her head at him. Just then, they heard footsteps down the hall and Lily walked into Harry's bedroom. "Oh!" She was startled at her son sitting up. "You're up! Are you alright, love? You gave us quite a scare."

"I'm fine, Mum. I-I survived the Killing Curse?" he asked with a shocked expression.

She nodded. "Yes. Put a shirt on and come downstairs. Both of you. We have some things to discuss." She left the room, followed by Harry and Hermione a minute later when Harry had gotten a t-shirt on. They went downstairs to the dining room, which had grown larger so that a lot of people could sit. Hermione recognized all of the people that had been on the mission that night and several other she did not recognize. James was sitting at the head of the table, Lily next to him. When she saw them enter, she introduced Hermione to the others. "Hermione, I believe you know some of these people." Hermione nodded and Lily pointed to the ones she didn't know.

"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt." He was tall and dark-skinned. Friendly-looking. "Mad-Eye Moody." Mad-Eye had a strange rolling eye that was very spastic. Hermione widened her eyes at him for a moment, but settled down when he asked her, "Hello, lass." She smiled back at him.

"This is Minerva McGonagall." She was a stern-looking, elder woman. Yet, she smiled at the young woman. "Hello, young lady."

"Molly Weasley, Arthur's wife. And their two other sons, Fred and George." Hermione noticed that all of the Weasleys had carrot-red hair.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you all."

"This is Hermione Granger. Harry, James, Remus, and Sirius all saved Hermione from some Death Eaters about a month ago. She's become quite the friend to Harry," Lily introduced making the two teens blush beet red. "Anyway, sit down, you two. We have lots to discuss."

Harry and Hermione sat in two seats opposite the fireplace in the middle of the table. Hermione noticed that James' parents were back in their original painting. They, too, looked concerned for their grandson. "So, you are now the Boy-Who-Survived-the-Killing-Curse?" Mad-Eye asked him, his eye looking everywhere but him.

Harry became a bit shy. "I-is th-that what they are calling me now?"

"Well, we are. That and 'The Chosen One'," Kingsley replied. "We are the only ones who know. The Death Eaters knew, but we've wiped their minds."

"Harry, do you feel okay?" James asked him.

"I feel brilliant, Dad. I don't feel like I've been hit with the Killing Curse at all," he replied truthfully. He thought of something. "Has this ever happened before?"

"No, there is no record of _anyone ever _surviving the Killing Curse," Arthur Weasley replied. "So, therefore, there would not be an explanation for it. This is a mystery to all of us."

"How did you feel when you were hit with it?" Remus asked.

Harry shut his eyes and tried to remember. "I felt nothing. I remember now it hitting me. But I felt like...I...absorbed it, I guess."

"You attacked the Death Eater that had shot the Curse?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes, he was trying to kill Hermione. She was unarmed. I was in my Animagus form. I reacted and before I knew it, I was in my panther form jumping in front of the Curse and trying to kill him with my claws and teeth. The Curse hit me and I absorbed it. The Death Eater had punched me and I jumped off of him." He looked ashamed of himself. "I'm angry at the Death Eaters hurting people and killing them. But I would _never _want to kill them. That is not the Order's justice. That is not _my _justice. It's just lowering myself to their level. But I _killed_ that Death Eater. I was so ashamed of myself. And then another Death Eater sent the Slashing Hex at me. _That _hurt a bit."

"It's okay, Harry," Lily reassured him. "You were just protecting Hermione. No one blames you."

_'I do'_ he thought to himself, but nodded to his mother. "But how did I survive that Curse?"

Everyone was at a loss for words. No one knew what to say. They all just sat there trying to absorb what Harry had just said. McGonagall was the next one to speak up, "I have some news. Lily, James, you know how Charlus and Dorea were away from this painting for a few weeks, right?" She pointed to the portrait of the elder Potters and they nodded. "Well, we were discussing something that we found out pertains to Harry. It is a prophecy. Sybil Trelawney told it to Albus Dumbledore before Harry was born. He told it to me before he died and I have not and will never forget it."

Everyone nodded and she continued, "Everything that is said here is extremely confidential, as everyone knows, right?" The members of the Order all nodded. "_Born as the seventh month dies...in the year before the Dark Lord comes to power...the one who can defeat him will have the power he knows not...equal will be the panther and the lioness' magic...surviving the flame the same color as his forest eyes...the lioness will he protect...as will the lioness protect him_," she repeated.

Hermione opened her mouth in shock and gasped inaudibly at the prophecy. "At first, I thought it might have been Neville Longbottom because he was born the day before Harry. But he had green eyes_-forest _eyes_._ And I believe this prophecy is going to be fulfilled soon," McGonagall added.

"It's already begun," Sirius replied sadly.

"So, _I-I _am to defeat Voldemort?" Harry shuddered terrified. No one answered him. He knew the answer. "But I'm just Harry...just Harry." Everyone could see the innocence on the young man's face. The terror.

"Yes, Harry," McGonagall affirmed. "You are the Chosen One?"

* * *

Hermione and Harry sat on the swing in the backyard, pondering about everything they had heard. Silence succumbed them as they sat there. "Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked finally after a while.

Harry sighed and replied back, "I don't know. All I want is peace. But I never expected it would be me that could restore it. I'm only eighteen. I barely know what I want to do with my life. I just want to do good in the world."

Hermione looked at him solemnly. "Maybe this is how you can accomplish that."

"How? I can barely speak to strangers. I'm not good with crowds. I have a hard time trusting people. I've lived a sheltered life. Protected. Secure. How can _I_ lead this world to peace? My father's the better man to do that," he said sadly.

"Harry, James is a great person, but I have to say: _you_ are the better man. You know right from wrong. You know when a prank is taken too far. You are loving, caring, compassionate and loyal. And if you are this Chosen One, I believe you can end this war. And whatever power you have that the Dark Lord doesn't, I bet it's the most powerful thing in the world. Only you can use it well against him," she reassured him.

Harry looked at her with watery eyes and boyish smile. "Thanks, Hermione. That means so much to me."

Hermione blushed and kissed his cheek, making him go red. Then she asked, "There's something I want to know. Why do the Aurors only Stun the Death Eaters? Is it because you don't want to lower yourselves to their level?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, we just can't believe that the Killing Curse is the ultimate justice. It's not going to bring all of the ones they killed back to life. So we Stun them and then send them to Veritas. We don't torture them, but we do try to get them to join our side. We've gotten a few crossovers, though, so that tactic _has _worked. All the ones we don't turn to the Light side, we keep prisoned, letting them live with their mistakes. It's the worst torture anyone can live with."

"That's very smart."

"Yeah," Harry smiled. "My father thought of it, actually. It has made many Aurors better people because of it. And we've got more Aurors because of it."

Hermione sighed and leaned her head onto his shoulder. Harry wrapped an arm around her and just held her against him.

* * *

"James, I just can't believe it," Lily said as she gazed at the two teenagers embracing from the kitchen window. The Order had left their Manor, leaving the family to be with each other after their overwhelming meeting. "Our son is to kill the Dark Lord?"

"I can't believe it either, Lily," James agreed wrapping his arms around his wife's waist from behind. She put her hands on his.

"He's only a boy," she said as a few tears leaked from her eyelids. She longed for her son to be safe. To be secure. Protected.

"Lily, he's eighteen. He's not a boy. He's a man. A man who survived the Killing Curse. He's a walking miracle, Lils. Our walking miracle."

Lily sighed against her husband. "I just want to live peacefully, James. With some green-eyed, brown-haired grandchildren."

James looked at his son and his new friend, who were sitting wrapped up in each other's embrace. "No...you think?"

"Can't you see it?"

Her husband looked very hard. And there. There it was. He watched as his son looked at Hermione with the same look he gave Lily when they were that age. Look of affection. "Maybe. Just maybe, Lily."

TBC...

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 5. Hoped you liked it. As you can see, I am not the best prophecy writer. Haha. Sorry it was so short.**

**I'm not sure what to write about next. Maybe the Death Eaters and Voldemort's perpective.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	6. Feelings

**Hey, thanx for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**I'm not sure if the reason why Voldemort has a snake-like face is because of when he came back, but I'm going to have him look like that anyway. Also, I read that Bellatrix Lestrange was in love with Voldemort. He did not reciprocate bc he is incapable of love. However, this is fanfiction and I'm going to play around with that. Hehe.**

**Also, I saw Red Riding Hood. IT'S AMAZING! Go see it! You have no idea who the wolf is until like 5-10 minutes before the movie ends. It's a HUGE surprise!**

**This chapter is a little Mature.**

**Chapter Six**

**Feelings**

Tom Marvolo Riddle, who liked to be called Lord Voldemort, was sitting at the head of the dining table at the Riddle Manor. His leading followers, the Lead Death Eaters, his generals, sat around his table, giving him the latest report. Voldemort was a tall man. He was bald and had slits where his nose should be, giving him the look of a snake. His eyes were a cold and dark blue. His skin was so white, he could have been passed off as an albino.

"Many of our followers are going down like flies," Rodolphus Lestrange said. "The Aurors pop up every time we try to raid. We still haven't found the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. So we can get rid of them before they get rid of us. They still Stun them and send them to whereever they go. We can't find that either. It's like the Death Eaters just disappeared off the face of the Earth. The Aurors are pretty good, Master, you have to admit it."

Voldemort nodded his snake-like head. "They are good, Rodolphus...but we have to be better than them. We need to work faster and quieter. We can _not _let them take control. _We _are in control. Not them! We have to remind them of that. Everyone else is afraid of us! Not them! They expect _us _to be afraid of _them_!" He laughed a cold laugh and everyone chimed in. He changed the subject a bit and asked Rodolphus, "What did you see on your last raid in Piccadilly Circus? Any sign of where they would be going?"

"No, Master, however, it seems that we have a new Auror in the Order. It's a Mudblood from what I saw. Damn good one at that. Amycus Carrow had duelled her. He had disarmed her and had her backed into a corner. He fired the Killing Curse at her, but an Animagus panther jumped in front of her and took the Curse," Rodolphus explained to his Master.

"Good thing, too. Serves him right to be dead from jumping in front of a Killing Curse that is meant for a Mudblood," Voldemort said coldly looking at the rain hitting the window outside.

However, Rodolphus replied, "...actually, sir...the boy is not dead..."

Voldemort turned his head slowly back at his faithful follower, staring at him incredulously. Not believing him. "What did you just say?"

"Master, the panther was hit, but it seemed like it had no idea that it got hit. I saw it. It hit him right in the chest. It attacked Carrow and killed him. The panther lay on the ground. I thought it was dead, but I heard it whimper. I sent the Slashing Hex at it. It howled in pain, like it felt it. Then, it turned back into a human. A human boy. The son of James and Lily Potter. Looks just like his father. His chest was rising and falling. The boy was still _alive_. Then we retreated as we were outnumbered." Everyone began to murmur and talk to each other in silent tones. Voldemort still looked shocked. "He _survived_ the Killing Curse?"

Rodolphus nodded. "Amazing, isn't it, Master?"

"Yes, yes, it is," he replied thoughtfully, "And the Mudblood?"

"She seemed to have some affection for the boy. I saw her run over to him as I left, seeing if he was okay. Disgusting," he said with a grimace. "What are we to do, Master?"

Voldemort thought about this. What were they to do? "This boy is going to be a menace to us. Unstoppable. We need to watch him more. Most likely he is going to be at some of the raids. We need to study him. Watch him. See what he likes. What he doesn't like. We will use that to take him down."

The Death Eaters nodded. "Thank you all for coming, generals. Please, pass on this information to your troops. I do not know when nor where the next raid will be, but it will be soon. I will be in contact with you. Good day." There were several _pops_ as his followers all left.

All of them but one.

"What are you doing, Bellatrix? Shouldn't you be with your husband?"

"Oh, Tom, you know I don't want to be with anyone but you. You don't know how many days go by where I wish _you_ were my husband." Voldemort wouldn't let anyone but her call him "Tom", even though he hated it.

It was no secret that Voldemort and Bellatrix were having an affair. Even Rodolphus knew, but didn't force her to do anything. She didn't love him and he didn't love her. They were just forced into a Pure-Blood marriage. Rodolphus was even having an affair with Alecto Carrow, the sister of the Death Eater that the Potter boy had shredded to pieces. Bellatrix knew, too, but didn't say anything to him.

Bellatrix walked up to her Master and smashed her lips onto his. He kissed her back, deepening it, opening his mouth and meeting her tongue with his. He grabbed her around her waist and apparated to his bedroom, where the night was theirs.

* * *

"Oh, my God! Harry!" Hermione screamed as he pounded into her. Their bodies were slick and slippery from sweat. Hermione dug her fingernails into his back, drawing blood, as he hit that spot over and over again. "Faster! Harder! HARRY!" she screamed as she came.

"Fuck, Hermione!" he grunted as he spilled his seed inside of her, mixing with hers.

Harry woke up snapping his eyes wide open. Sweat was pouring off of him as he panted heavily. His pajama pants were wet. He groaned. It was just a dream. This was the first wet dream he'd ever had. And it was about his best friend. He wouldn't be able to look at her the same way again.

He looked at his digital clock on his bedside table. It flashed "6:47". He threw his covers off of him and decided to start the day. He took a shower first and then made his way downstairs for breakfast. Hermione and his parents were already sitting there eating.

"Hey! Good morning!" his father greeted happily as he saw him. "Was wondering when you were gonna get up!"

Harry could feel Hermione's eyes on him as he walked toward the dining table and sat across from her. He felt as if she could read his mind and that she knew what he dreamt about last night. That he had dreamt about he and her...doing stuff. He avoided her eyes and made himself a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast.

"So, Harry, Hermione, what are you two going to do today?" Lily asked them.

Harry looked at Hermione, his heart racing. Hermione looked back at him. "Erm, I was going to spend the day in the library. I wanted to find and see if there was an explanation of why Harry could have survived the Killing Curse. I know you said that there is no record of anyone surviving it, but I want to see if there is a hint at what it could be that Harry has that no one else does."

"I'll help you," Lily responded with a smile.

* * *

After breakfast, Lily and Hermione went off to the library to do some research, James went to his study, and Harry stayed behind in the living room to watch some television. He couldn't get her out of his head. She was like a drug to him. So addicting. So seductive. The image of the both of them writhing on the bed passionately from his dream. He felt dirty and gross at the same time to be thinking about it. He could barely watch cartoons.

He turned the volume up louder and listened to the funny characters to settle himself down. It worked eventually and he fought down the urge to go upstairs and take his best friend.

Several hours later, upstairs in the library, Hermione and Lily had found all of the books that referenced to the Killing Curse and had read all of the sections that had mentioned it. However, they did not find anything that explained Harry's "gift".

"Nothing," Hermione huffed and set the last book down. Each book said the same thing. What it was. What it did. When it was created. What it was originally used for.

"Don't worry. We'll figure this out," Lily reassured her with a smile. Hermione gave a weak one back, nodding a bit.

"I'm worried about him, Lily. What if he survived that only one? What if he _can_ actually be killed? He's pretty reckless and will jump out at anything. What if next time he gets himself killed?" she asked nervously.

"Well, then, we'll watch out for him," she said finally. "He's reckless, but oblivious to who watches over him."

* * *

"You didn't find anything?" Harry asked as Hermione came out onto the roof outside of his window to meet him that night as the sun was going down. He always came up here. To think. Especially now. She thought he looked so beautiful with the wind running through his hair. Harry looked at her and his breath was taken away at the sun's gorgeous rays igniting her face.

"No," she said disappointedly. She leaned her head onto his shoulder. Harry hesitated, but wrapped his arm around her, holding her to his side, still staring at her. His dream forgotten.

For now, it was just the two of them. Together. In silence. Nothing else mattered. No war. No riots. No raids. No prophecy. No Death Eaters. No Voldemort. Just Harry and Hermione. And the young night sky.

Harry kissed the top of her head lightly. "I'm sure we'll find something somehow," he reassured her. "Don't give up, Hermione."

"Yeah," she replied with a breath. She hesitated before asking, "Harry...?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever worry that the Death Eaters and Voldemort will find out about the prophecy?"

Harry inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily. He gazed out at the fields behind their home. "Yeah, yeah, I do. I worry that they are going to find out that you are the lioness. Some of the Death Eaters that got away know that I survived the Killing Curse. No doubt they would tell their Master. I'm sure they already know by now you are a Muggle-Born. If I am to defeat Voldemort, there's no doubt he would go after you. I wouldn't forgive myself if anything had happened to you," he replied to her seriously.

She took his hand and he looked at her. Hermione looked at him with a solemn look. Slowly, she reached up and brushed his messy fringe from his forehead. Harry closed his eyes at her touch. "You have _no_ idea how much I feel the same way, Harry."

He smiled at her. He could not believe someone felt that way about him. Someone who would not forgive themselves if something bad had happened to him. Hermione watched as a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

Harry disengaged himself from her and stood up on the roof. He faced her, his feet on the edge of the roof. Hermione widened her eyes. "Harry, be careful." But he just smiled. Hermione wondered if he was about to commit suicide. He stretched his arms out at his sides...

...and then fell back off of the roof.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed. She jumped up and inched her way to the edge, getting as close as she could without falling off.

She watched. It was like slow motion. Harry was falling headfirst toward the ground, but in midair, he had flipped and landed on all four paws in his panther form. He looked up at Hermione and he seemed to smirk at her. She sighed in relief. "Harry..." she shook her head trying to calm her racing heart down. Then, she jumped off of the roof and landed right next to him in her lioness form.

_Scared you, didn't I?_

_Yeah, you did, Harry. Don't ever do that again! _She heard Harry snickering in her head. When he realized she wasn't laughing back, he rubbed the top of his head under chin in a big cat apology.

_I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to scare you. I won't do it again._

_It's okay, Harry. _She replied returning the gesture.

_Race you to the creek?_ Harry suggested.

Before Hermione could respond, she took off with a laugh. Her own form of cheating.

Harry laughed back at her. _Oh, no, you don't. Get back here! You cheated!_

In the end, Hermione won. Unfairly, according to Harry. The creek was a special place to Harry. Hermione had never been there, but she could follow it using the smell and sound of the water.

"So, this is the creek?" Hermione asked panting, now in her human form and looking around at the beauty of her surroundings. It was in the woods. Surrounded by tons of trees. There was a small waterfall where the part of the creek they were at began.

Harry changed back, as well. "Yeah, my parents used to bring me here when I was younger. When I was old enough, they would let me jump off the waterfall."

Hermione smiled mischievously and grabbed Harry's hand. The sun was going down and Harry's parents had no idea where they were. The teenage girl pulled him up the hill of rocks until they were on top of it. Hermione took off her shoes and socks. But she didn't stop there. She took off her shirt and jeans, leaving her in her black lace bra and matching underwear. She was blushing, but didn't care. Harry looked at her, feeling all of the blood rushing south. "Come on, Harry. Jump with me!"

Harry tore his eyes away from her and stripped down to his boxers, as well. He grabbed her proffered hand and they stepped into the creek, on top of the waterfall. "Ready?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

"One..." she began to count.

"...two..." he continued.

"...three!" they both said at the same time and jumped off of the waterfall.

The both of them screamed as they fell into the water. When they resurfaced, they looked at each other and laughed. Hermione let go of Harry's hand and went over to waterfall, putting her head underneath it, catching the water flowing from it. She closed her eyes and Harry thought he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

"We better be getting back. My parents would be getting worried," he told her. He hated to spoil the fun, but he didn't want to be caught out here in the dark. It was nice to be able to get outside every once in awhile and forget the world. Hermione opened her eyes and looked at him. She nodded, agreeing. The both of them apparated to the top of the waterfall and put their clothes back on. Then, they morphed back into their Animagus forms.

Harry raced Hermione back to the house.

He won this time.

Fair and square.

TBC...

* * *

**Well, now I have given you the relationship bw Voldemort and Bellatrix, what do you think about it? Didn't know Voldemort was capable of love?**

**Hope you liked this chapter. Kinda short.**

**Next chapter's gonna have more of Voldie and Bella, hopefully. I finally have a plot for them. Yay! Which then, ties into the Potters and Hermione.**

**Also, the creek is gonna be kinda like what the Meadow is for Bella and Edward, I guess. I almost did a meadow, too, but wanted to do the waterfall scene.**

**Song listened to while writing this chapter: "The Wolf" by Fever Ray from Red Riding Hood soundtrack, especially at the part where Harry jumps off of the roof.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	7. Birthday

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Chapter Seven**

**Birthday**

Bellatrix saw that she hadn't started bleeding. She was over a month overdue for that. She was getting worried. She hadn't had sex with her husband in several months. That could only mean she was pregnant with...her Master's child.

She loved her Master, but her husband would not be happy with her carrying his child. She knew she shouldn't get rid of it. She believed in killing if it was for the greater good, but she did not believe in abortion. She wondered if her Master would accept it as his heir. She didn't want children, no matter how much she loved her Dark Lord. But she was not going to get rid of it completely. She'll wait for it to be born and then give it to someone who cared about it. A Death Eater who was good at raising dark children. Perhaps her sister. She had done well with her own son, Draco, who was now eighteen and a Death Eater.

Immediately, she apparated to Riddle Manor from her own manor. "Tom?" she called. "Tom!"

"What is it, Bella?" she heard a cold whisper from behind her. She whipped around and gasped lightly.

"Oh, Tom, there you are!" she cried with surprise. She looked at his face and smiled. He smirked at her and asked, "Couldn't stay away, could you?"

"I'm pregnant," she said flat out.

Voldemort's smirk turned into a frown. "What? It's mine, isn't it?" he asked after a long moment.

"Of course it's yours, Tom. Rodolphus hasn't fucked me in months. I don't want it, but I'm not going to get rid of it. I was thinking about giving it to my sister. She made a killer out of Draco. We can make a great Death Eater out of them. We can train them to be a killer like his cousin," she explained to him.

Voldemort nodded, liking her idea. He couldn't believe his beautiful and faithful Bella was pregnant. With _his _child! He didn't really want it either, even though he loved her. He wanted it to survive, but he didn't want to take care of it. He would just watch it grow from afar, being raised by his faithful followers. To be a killing machine. He wanted his child to be able to know all four of the Unforgivable Curses by the time they were a year old. He wanted them to be trained in combat from the moment they took their first steps. His child would be The Chosen One.

* * *

"Cissy?" Bellatrix called out as she apparated to her sister's manor. "Cissy! Cissy! Are you here?"

"I'm here, Bella!" Narcissa Malfoy cried coming down the stairs gracefully. She greeted her sister. Narcissa Malfoy looked a lot like her sister, except for the hair. Bellatrix's hair was very dark, while her sister's had blonde streaks in hers. "What is it?"

"Cissy, I need your help. I'm pregnant," she said as Narcissa got closer to her.

Narcissa's eyes widened. "Oh, well...does Rodolphus know?"

"No, but you see, it's not his. It's Tom's."

Narcissa's eyes, if possible, got as large as saucers. "What? You're pregnant with the Dark Lord's offspring?"

Bellatrix nodded. "Yes, and he knows. I need your help. When I have the child, would you take them in and raise them? Raise them exactly like you did Draco? They would be a killing machine."

"Did the Dark Lord agree to this?"

"Yes, he did. Please, Cissy. Neither of us want it, but I'm not getting rid of it."

Narcissa nodded, still shocked. "Alright, Bella. I'll do it. I'll raise your child as my own."

Bellatrix grinned and hugged her sister. "Oh, thank you, sister! Thank you so much."

Now, telling Rodolphus was going to be difficult.

* * *

Harry woke up on his birthday panting heavily. He had that dream again. The same one he had been having for a month now. The one where all of his loved ones would be tortured and killed right in front of him. Voldemort would "save the best for last". Hermione. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thought of her being hurt and killed because of him. He wanted to protect her. Make sure nothing bad would ever happen to her. But he wasn't sure if he was strong enough.

He climbed out of bed and showered and then made his way down the stairs for breakfast. He could smell chocolate-chip pancakes wafting in the air. He smiled slightly. It was his favorite breakfast.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" his parents and Hermione cried out as Harry walked into the dining room for breakfast a month later. Today, he was nineteen years old. He grinned and Hermione ran up to hug him and kissed his cheek. She always made him smile.

"I made your favorite-chocolate-chip pancakes," his mother said to him as he hugged her next. When he released her, his father ruffled his hair like he always did.

They sat down and ate their breakfast. Lily told him, "We're going to have a party tonight for you. We've invited some of the Order members."

Harry blushed. "Mum, you didn't have to do that." He hated when attention was on him. "I would've been fine with a small get-together with just us and Sirius and Remus and their families. You know how I hate attention."

"Which is precisely why we did it," James responded with a playful smirk.

"Besides Tonks replied to me that Sophie had already picked out a present for you and she's very excited about it. She wanted the other Order members to see you open it," Lily told him with a smile. "You wouldn't want your cousin to be disappointed now, would you?"

Harry shook his head and smiled at the thought of his small cousin. "No, ma'am." He hated when his parents persuaded him like that. It made him feel awful sometimes.

* * *

Later on that day, Harry was nowhere to be found. His parents and Hermione were worried where he was. Once they found out he was not in the house, they stood outside in the backyard and tried to see if they could see a glimpse of him anywhere. They had no luck. So, Hermione transformed into her lioness and she could smell that his scent led off to the woods. Toward the Creek. What was he doing there? Was something bothering him? She turned back into her human form. "I know where he is. I'll go find him." They nodded and she changed back into her animal form and ran the whole way to the Creek.

There was something wrong, she noticed as she got closer. She sensed him in his animal form, as well. She heard scratching and leaves shaking. She could smell anger and fear. He looked like he was in his feral state. He was jumping all over the place, scratching at the bark on the trees. Hermione could see scratch marks on a lot of trees, showing that he had been doing this for awhile. He growled and hissed in anger. She changed back into her human form. "Harry...?"

He suddenly froze in his movements. He hadn't sensed her. He had been too deep into his thoughts to sense anything other than his anger. He jumped down from the tree and looked at her, transforming into a human. He looked very disheveled. Very stressed out. "Are you okay?" _'Dumb question, Hermione'_ she scolded herself in her head. _'Of course he's not okay.'_

"Not really," he replied emotionlessly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He hesitated, wondering if he wanted to tell her or not, but he said, "No."

Hermione was a little hurt, but hid it well. "Okay, then, let's get back. Your parents are very worried about you."

Harry nodded and they walked back to the Potter Manor in silence for a while. Until Hermione said, "Harry, whatever's bothering you needs to go away for today. You can worry about it tomorrow. Today's your birthday. You shouldn't worry about anything today. It's your special day." She smiled, making him smile back. He nodded and took her hand in his, needing comfort.

* * *

That night, Harry's birthday party took place. Many Order members came with presents and Lily even baked a cake. Harry thought about what Hermione had said and pushed the nightmare he had that night into the back of his mind. He would worry about it tomorrow. It never really bothered him before. Not that much. Last night, it was much more clear than it had been all those other nights.

Harry conversed with Ron and Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, and Hermione outside. They talked about Animagi and how Ron and Neville were about to begin their training on it soon.

Sophie had run up to him the moment she arrived. "Harry! Harry!" she cried. Harry bent down and caught her in his arms as she reached him. He lifted her up to hold her. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her tight against his chest. He needed someone to hug. "Hey, Sophie," he said softly.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!"

"Thank you." He set her back on the ground and she saw Hermione. "'Mione!" She wrapped her small arms around the young woman's waist. Hermione, in return, hugged her back. "Hello, Miss Sophie. I've missed you."

"Missed you, too, 'Mione." Sophie gave her a toothy grin. She looked back at Harry and said, "I can't wait for you to open my present, Harry. I hope you like it."

"I _am_ going to like it if it's from you," he smiled and she giggled. Then, she turned and went play with her brother and other cousin.

A half hour later, Lily called out, "Cake!" Everyone walked over to the table where Lily was. She had a large cake in her hands, which she set down gently on the table. It was a chocolate cake with white frosting. On the top was a icing-shaped Golden Snitch and in emerald-green writing, it read, "Happy Birthday Harry!" There were nineteen candles. All lit.

Everyone gathered around the table and Harry stood in front of his cake. There came a chant of "Happy Birthday".

"Make a wish," Hermione said as they finished. Harry looked around at everyone. At his family. Besides for the fact that he was supposed to kill or be killed by Voldemort, what more could he want? He had everything right here.

He closed his eyes and wished to be happy.

* * *

Sophie had gotten Harry the best present anyone could ever get. Especially now that he'd been having bad dreams. It was almost a Muggle form of a Pensive. It was a plain wooden box that she explained, "You just open it and pour all of your bad memories and bad thoughts in. You'll feel a lot better."

"It doesn't actually put bad memories or bad thoughts in," Remus explained to him. "It's not like a Pensive, but it's a great thing to have."

A tear rolled down his cheek at the simplicity of the gift. He knew he could use this. Perhaps it was better than a Pensive. He didn't have to view his memories or bad dreams. He could just put them in this here box and forget about all of his worries.

Sophie put her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels nervously, yet cutely. "Do you like it, Harry?"

"No, I _love _it, Sophie. Thank you so much." He lifted her into his arms and held her. Hermione began to cry at the sweet moment. Harry had a soft spot for children. Sophie just adored her older cousin.

Harry was gifted with several new books, a Quidditch cleaning kit, a few new sets of clothing from his parents, and a journal from Hermione. It might have been a little too feminine for him, everyone would have thought, but this perhaps was like the wooden box, he needed to get some thoughts down.

He looked around. At his family. He barely knew these people, yet he was so close to them.

He wished for nothing bad to happen to them. Nothing horrible to break them up.

That was what he wanted.

A future.

TBC...

* * *

**Well there was chapter 7! Hope it was ok. Sorry it was so short. Towards the end it got to be more of a filler. Well, Bellatrix is preggers. And Harry's bothered.**

**Hopefully in the next chapter you'll see how Bellatrix pregnant ties into the Potters and Hermione. We'll just have to see what this story wants to do. It has a mind of its own.**

**Well, in the life of me: I have 4 official days left of high school. Holla! I'm really gonna miss my school and teachers and friends, though. :(**

**Anyway, pleez review! I'll try to make next chapter longer.**

**DREWHHR**


	8. Raid

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Redwoodx: Harry, Voldemort, and Bellatrix don't get together. Their fa-you'll see. Haha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**This chapter starts off 7 months later. I think I'm going to love this chapter the most.**

**Chapter Eight**

**Raid**

**7 Months Later**

Bellatrix was eight months pregnant. She was tired. Her feet were so swollen they looked like loaves of bread. She had obviously told her husband that she was pregnant with their Master's child. He was angry with her at first, but forgave her when she said she was going to give it to her sister who would raise it. He had agreed. The child would be a warrior. A killer. His sister-in-law had raised his nephew well. And would raise is "step-child" the same.

She wanted this baby to come out of her this second. She was tired of sleeping on her back. Not being able to sleep on her stomach. The baby would kick and kick and kick all night long. Like it was trying to force its way out of her. She wished her baby didn't have feet. Then maybe she could get a few hours of sleep in a night.

She walked into the Malfoy Manor for the meeting. She sat next to her Master, who was at the head of the table, and next to her husband. "The Muggle-borns have multiplied since last we met," Voldemort told his followers. "What does that mean to you?" His voice was calm, like it always was. But this time, he sounded a little angry. Accusing. Cold.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

When no one answered, he did. "It means we are not doing our job very well, now, are we?" His voice was still calm. Too calm. It scared them a bit.

"I want more raids. It doesn't matter if they are our followers. Kill them all!" he ordered and Disapparated.

* * *

More raids. Hermione sat at the breakfast table with Crookshanks in her lap, petting his fur, as she read the paper and ate her cereal. "More raids," she said aloud to the three Potters.

"Yeah," Lily replied thoughtfully. Sadly.

Hermione closed the paper and pushed it away from her unable to look anymore. It was the new year. Starting fresh. Yet, there were more deaths. The death toll had increased. Lately, it seemed they were killing anyone. Anyone and anything that had a heartbeat. A tear dropped onto her hand when she saw the death toll for children. It was more than the adults' death toll. She began to cry fully. Lily stroked her hair and Crookshanks leapt onto the table and rubbed his fur on her face. She smiled, appreciating their comfort.

She dried her tears and looked up. Harry was giving her a reassuring smile. She smiled back. He always made her feel better.

Later that afternoon, Harry went back upstairs to write in his journal Hermione had given to him for his birthday. He didn't write in it every day, but he made sure to every other day. He had even charmed it so that he wouldn't run out of paper.

_"Hermione's scared again. She always is. Yet, I can see a fire burning bigger than a forest fire in her. She wants to save everyone. Like me. But it's impossible. Why are all of these bad things happening? Why does Voldemort want to kill people? People like Hermione. I see her and I see nothing wrong with her. Absolutely nothing wrong with her. We both have feet. Legs. Torso. Arms. Hands. Fingers. Face. Hair. Heartbeats. The only thing that makes me different from her is what separates man and woman. Everything else. The same. Voldemort, I'm told, does not have a nose. It's just two slits where its supposed to go. He has no hair. Dark golden-black eyes. However, I'm sure that when he was born and growing up, he did have a nose. Normal-colored eyes. And hair. Why did he hate so much? Why couldn't he see the good in things? The good in people? They've done no wrong. Just lived. Or is living so wrong for him? What has Hermione done that's so wrong?_

_"I keep having those dreams again. Every night. They're all the same. End with everyone I love dying. Hermione's always the last one to die. I hope Voldemort does not find out I can't live without her. Because then he will make sure I do. Sometimes, I can feel something coming. Something...horrible. And I'm supposed to be waiting in the dark to kill him. To prepare myself. Anticipation is not my friend right now. Not one bit. It's killing me. Bit by bit. What is my fate? Am I to live or die?"_

He closed his journal as he finished his entry. He put it in his safe hiding place. Under his bed and in a small shoebox. He put his pencil in his bedside table drawer. His eyes began to droop. He was wiped out. Tired. Fatigued. He hadn't had much sleep the night before. He laid down in his bed and closed his eyes.

And he fell asleep.

However, not peacefully.

* * *

"Harry...? Harry!"

His eyes snapped open and he shot up in his bed, panting again. Hermione sat on his bed next to him, running her fingers through his hair. "Shh. It's okay. It was only a nightmare."

He nodded, trying to calm himself down. He closed his eyes as Hermione smoothed back his hair on his forehead to kiss it. "Take a shower. We have an Order meeting in a half hour." Harry nodded and watched her leave his room.

He took his shower and went downstairs to the dining room. He found most of the Order there. Some members were arriving as he did. He took his usual seat next to Hermione. Once everyone was seated, Kingsley Shacklebolt began, "We have finally located the headquarters of the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. It is at the Malfoy Manor, the home of Lucius Malfoy."

"The one we saved Hermione from?" Harry asked.

His father nodded. "Yes, son, the one and only. He's in Azkaban now, although his wife and son still reside there."

Everyone started to murmur. Harry and Hermione's eyes widened and they looked at each other. "Yes...we _have_ to strike them. They are killing left and right now. It doesn't matter who it is anymore. We need to stop them from killing anyone else."

Everyone nodded. "We're going to need everyone this time. Hopefully most of the Death Eaters are going to be there. So we can get rid of some to give others a chance to surive. We attack at sundown a month from now."

* * *

A month later, the Order apparated a few miles outside of Malfoy Manor. Kingsley separated everyone into pairs. Harry and Hermione were a team, like always. Something they were both secretly happy about. They were to attack the Manor at every angle. Surround it. Trap them.

They hid in the bushes until everyone was in position. Kingsley gave the order and everyone charged toward the Manor calling out rebel yells, shouting curses here and there. Trying to get inside the enemy's Headquarters.

Doors were bombarded open. Windows were shattered. Colors of all sorts were shooting from every direction. Harry and Hermione stood back to back as they got into the Malfoy Manor, guarding each other's backs. Death Eaters arrived. They were stunned that the enemy had found them. They immediately began to fight back. It seemed that the Death Eaters were skilled in being quick to block. But the Order was more determined to destroy their opponent. More determined to get rid of them once and for all. Harry protected Hermione by knocking out Death Eaters that wanted to hurt her when she wasn't looking.

Everyone seemed to be doing well on the Order's side. When more Death Eaters arrived, Kingsley told Harry and Hermione, "I think we got it from here. You two go upstairs and check for any other Death Eaters that are afraid to come out or could be calling for reenforcements."

The two nodded and ran up the stairs hand-in-hand. They threw open doors. One by one. They found a few and Stunned them, sending them to Azkaban. The last door they opened, they heard a loud, crying noise. Like a newborn baby. Hermione, curious, walked into an adjoining room and the crying got louder. "Hermione!" Harry hissed. "We have to hurry! We have to get out of here. Now!"

"Harry, there's a baby. I'm not just going to leave them." She walked, determined, to a small crib that the crying sound was coming from. She smiled as she looked down at a small, tiny, baby girl. She looked to be a few weeks old. She had dark hair and big, brown eyes. Big, fat tears were rolling down her cheeks. She looked a little malnourished. She was wearing nothing but a diaper and was wrapped in a thin blanket. She looked really cold. "Oh, my God," Hermione cried as she picked up the light child, who became less fussy once she was in Hermione's arms.

"Hermione..." Harry warned her.

"Harry...she needs to be taken care of. Properly," she protested. Giving him reason.

"Hermione, we can't take care of her. Whoever she belongs to probably does not want us to be taking her, I'm sure."

"They didn't even give her clothes or a warm blanket. Harry, I'm _not _leaving her here," she replied firmly giving him that fierce look, showing the fire in her. He nodded, giving in, and Hermione gathered the child close to her chest. "Go on. I'll cover you," he promised ushering her forward.

They rushed out of the room and into the hallway. They made their way down the stairs. The baby started to cry. "Shh. Shh. It's okay," she soothed. They got to the landing and saw what was happening downstairs. There were several Death Eaters and Order members left. They saw a few on their side lying on the ground dead. Harry and Hermione didn't see James and Lily and thought the worst. Kingsley was the first to notice them. "Get out of here! We have it under control!" he cried taking down a Death Eater and sending them to Azkaban. He didn't seem to notice the baby. Harry and Hermione nodded and slipped out a side door. Harry took down a Death Eater that surprised them on the way out the door.

They ran to the Apparation point, Harry wrapped his arms around her, and Apparated back to their home. They landed in the dining room. The baby began to cry from the feeling of being sucked into a tube. Hermione rocked her. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. You're okay."

"Do you think everyone else is okay?" he asked her.

"I'm sure they're fine, Harry," she replied gazing at the baby girl.

"I'll send my parents a Patronus." He did just that. Telling them that he and Hermione were home and safe. His father sent one back moments later saying that the raid was somewhat successful, however, they had only gotten the small pawns of Voldemort's. James told them that they were at St. Mungo's getting healed and they were going to be there shortly. They didn't get any of the major Death Eaters. His _true_ followers. His "friends". Narcissa Malfoy and her son hadn't been there either.

They wondered who had been watching the baby.

* * *

"Hermione, what are we going to do? _We just stole a baby_," Harry asked a half hour later. Harry had found some of his old baby things from when he was that age. They changed the color of his blue onesie to pink and found a baby bottle. Harry quickly Apparated to the Muggle store and bought some formula and diapers for her.

Hermione was currently sitting in a chair, feeding the little girl, who ate hungrily. "I don't know, Harry. I really don't. I'm just glad we got her out of there." She smiled down at the baby girl. Harry smiled slightly. He could tell she loved children.

Suddenly, they heard two, faint _pops_. "Harry? Hermione?" they heard Lily cry from the entrance hall.

"We're in here!" Harry called back and his parents walked into the dining room. "Thank God you two are oka-" Lily stopped short when she saw the baby in Hermione's arms. She dropped her jaw. Her husband followed suit. "Wha-? Who-? How-? Who is that?"

"Lily, James, Harry and I found her in one of the rooms upstairs during the raid," Hermione explained nervously. She hadn't thought about having to tell Lily and James.

"You _took _her?" James asked incredulously.

Hermione nodded. "She was malnourished. Cold. She was practically dead. No one was watching her. I couldn't just leave her there. Obviously, she's too small and young to go to Azkaban and she didn't do anything wrong. If we were to send all of the Death Eaters to prison, who would take care of her?"

"But you _took _a child," Lily told her almost reprimanding her.

"I saved her. Isn't that what we _do_? Isn't that what the Order does? Saves people who can't help themselves?" she asked Lily. It was a rhetorical question. And Lily and James were speechless. She was right.

Like always.

* * *

They had decided to name her Holly. It was short and sweet. They took Harry's old crib down from the attic and put it in another guest room. The one on the other side of Hermione's room. They had decided to talk more about the little girl the next day with the Order. To see what they should do with her. Hermione wanted to keep her. So did Lily, James, and Harry, but secretly.

The next day came and at around lunchtime, the dining room began to pile up. Harry and Hermione sat in their usual seats at the table-with Hermione holding Holly. They were short a few people. Mad-Eye Moody had died and a few others who they didn't know very well and were guilty they didn't get the chance to know them. Their funerals were to be the next day. Today, however, they were to discuss the child.

Hermione had explained that she had saved the poor baby from starvation. "They weren't feeding her. Besides, I'm sure they're not even missing her. If they left her, they obviously don't care about her."

"Do we know her parents? What her genes are?" Kingsley asked.

"No, as I said, there was no one there looking after her. We don't know who she belongs to," the young witch answered.

"I'll do a paternity and maternity spell," Minerva McGonagall said standing up and walking over to Hermione, who held the baby where the older woman could reach her. "_Maternus Expertus_." Suddenly, there was a bright golden light that "scanned" Holly from the tip of her head to her toes. An small image rose from the baby. It was a miniature woman with black, wild hair and a baby-like face in black clothes, screaming and yelling, pointing her wand at Hermione. A green light shot from her wand. But, of course, it did not hit Hermione. It was just an image. A memory.

"Bellatrix Lestrange. Voldemort's right-hand woman," McGonagall said giving the woman a name. "Now, the father, which I'm assuming is Rodolphus, but let's just check to make sure. _Paternus Expertus_." Another golden glow "scanned" Holly again and another miniature image popped up from her body. Everyone gasped as they looked into the snake-like face and black-golden eyes of the child's father. McGonagall had been wrong about the child's father.

"Hermione, Harry, you've stolen the child of Lord Voldemort," McGonagall confirmed for them. Everyone gasped in shock.

TBC...

* * *

**Well there was ch. 8. Hoped you liked it. Just like every other DREWHHR story, there's a child in it. Haha. So, now you see how Harry and Hermione tie in with Bellatrix being pregnant and all. How they tie in.**

**We're watching Schindler's List in my World History class instead of learning about Mussolini and Hitler as like "last lesson" bc we REALLY wanted to learn about the Holocaust. I don't know why we wanted to learn about 6 million people dying, but we find it interesting. Haha. Its soooo depressing. The part where Voldemort says "Kill them all." I got inspiration from Schindler's List. Btw, the guy that plays the bad guy in the movie plays Voldemort in Harry Potter. Weird. Haha.**

**"Holly" is actually my guardian angel's name. Last year in my Theology class, my teacher told us for homework to close our eyes and ask "What's your name?" And watever name came to us first was our guardian angel's name. I heard "Holly". It's a very special name to me.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	9. Holly

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Dinomus: that will be explained in this chapter.**

**Just so you know, I have nothing against women. I am one. So don't draw to conclusions of why I wrote that girls can't be tough. I just did. Because if I hadn't put that, then stealing Holly wouldn't have been justified. Unless if it was to lessen the number of Death Eaters. What I'm saying is, she could have been trained to become a Death Eater, but then there would be no "Holly".**

**Sorry for the long non-update. I had been a little stressed and tired the last month with school ending. Then I got a little writer's block on this for a little while. I graduated from high school on Monday. The next day, one of my best friends' dad died. And then I got braces later that day. Ouch! They hurt. And I can't whistle anymore because of the braces. I went visit my best friend yesterday. I brought her a sympathy card, pretzel M&M's, and a giant blue bear that took me _forever_ to find. Haha. She loved it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Chapter Nine**

**Holly**

Everyone in Malfoy Manor heard Bellatrix Lestrange's scream. "WHERE IS SHE?" she screamed at the Death Eaters, especially her sister. "Who was watching her?"

"No one was, Bella," Narcissa answered. "I can't make a girl a killer. You were just lucky _you_ became one. No one wants to take care of a baby _girl_."

Bellatrix sighed heavily. She knew her sister was right. She didn't want her child anyway. She didn't even want to take care of the baby girl. She didn't know if her child was capable of becoming a Death Eater. Not everyone had the talent of killing. She and Alecto Carrow were two of the only female Death Eaters. And they were chosen by Voldemort to be two of his main followers.

Voldemort apparated into Malfoy Manor. His face was calm, yet, everyone knew he was angry. Everyone knelt down in front of him immediately. Once they had bowed, he began to speak and they all stood up. "Where...is...the...child?" he asked slowly.

"Gone, my Lord. She was taken," a Scottish Death Eater named McCullen said.

"And...who...took...her?" All of the Death Eaters hated when he was this calm. They knew he was angry. Very angry.

"The Order, sir. May-maybe this is a good thing. She was incapable of learning the ways of the Death Eater. Finally got her off of your hands, my Lord," McCullen said cautiously, looking at his Lord in the eye. He immediately looked back down when Voldemort looked back at him.

He didn't even see it coming. McCullen screamed as he felt the effects of the Torture Curse. It hurt. Oh, yes, it hurt like hell. He was under for thirty seconds before Voldemort took it off of him.

"Yes, McCullen, I do think she is incapable of learning the ways of a Death Eater. I was happy not being able to see her. However, I think that letting her being raised by someone else and not being able to see her again for a while is better than knowing that she was taken by my worst enemies! Do you _think _that I am happy walking around with the knowledge that she is being educated by my enemies? That she is being raised to _hate _me? Instead of fearing me and hating my enemies as I do?" he shouted in McCullen's face.

He looked at all of them. His pawns. What was left of them. He needed to recruit. He knew his deceased pawns had sons who could take their place and avenge their fathers' deaths. He needed more followers. Immediately.

He sought out one of his best followers. He found him easily by his father's identical hair color. "Draco."

"Yes, Master?" asked his faithful new follower. Draco Malfoy had been a Death Eater for almost a year now. And he was one of the best. He was young. Energetic. Quick. He was, in fact, one of the youngest at nineteen, along with the two boys fathered by two of his faithful followers, Crabbe and Goyle. They were the same age as the young Malfoy, but not as good as him. Draco had just recently gotten married to Astoria Greengrass, a daughter of a Pure-Blood family. "If I fail to father another heir-a true heir-I would like you to be my heir."

Draco was speechless. _Him? _A nineteen year old boy? No, it can't be. Surely, not him. "Are...are you sure, Master?"

"Yes, Draco. I want _you _to be my heir. My successor. You are young and faithful to me. You, along with your wife, shall carry on my work if I should fall," his Master told him.

Draco nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I will. I promise."

* * *

Harry could not believe it. They had just stolen the child of Lord Voldemort and his faithful, female follower. He lay in his bed that night. The Order meeting had ended in the wee hours of the morning. At around one in the morning. After they had put the child to sleep. He had been laying awake for almost an hour. Unable to get to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the tiny baby girl two doors down. She was so tiny. So small. Lily had helped Hermione nurse the child back to health, since she was a mother herself.

Before he knew it, he was on his feet making his way out of his room and down the hall. He found himself at the door of the new nursery. They had left it open ajar in case she started to cry at night. However, he found it more ajar than they had left it. He looked into the room and found Hermione standing there looking down at baby Holly. Her hands were on the side of the crib. She had a small smile on her face as she gazed down into the baby girl's face.

Harry slowly walked up behind her, not wanting to scare her. He stopped a few feet behind her. He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry?" she whispered. His heart stopped and then began beating rapidly. She knew he was there.

He cleared his throat silently. "Erm...wh-what's amazing?" he whispered back.

"It's amazing...how something so small and innocent...could come from something so evil," she said softly.

Harry smiled, knowing she was right. He walked up beside her and looked into the crib. Little Holly was laying on her stomach sleeping peacefully. Her tiny head was faced the two of them. Every now and then, her hand would twitch. And then her mouth would follow. She _was _right. Holly was the offspring of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort. Yet, she looked just like any other newborn baby. So innocent. So small. How could anyone not want her? How could anyone want to starve her to death?

"Yeah, that_ is_ amazing, Hermione. But she has a chance now to live according to the way of the Order. The way of life. Not death."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. A tear rolled down her cheek. "We had better feed her, Harry. Your Mum said we had to feed her every two hours."

Harry nodded and went downstairs to make her a bottle of formula. He came back upstairs and Hermione held Holly in her arms, who was slowly waking up. She was a little fussy and wanted something to eat. "I know, I know. You're hungry. Harry should be coming back with something to eat."

"Here." He walked over to her and gave her the bottle.

"Oh, thank you, Harry." She took it and placed the nipple of the bottle in Holly's mouth. She ate greedily. Her big, brown eyes stared up at Hermione. Once Harry walked over next to Hermione and stood by her side, Holly looked at him. He smiled down at her. "Hey, Holly," he said as he stroked her cheek with his finger. Suddenly, something happened that neither teenager expected.

Holly had reached up and took a hold of Harry's finger in her tiny one. Harry gasped audibly. It was warm and soft. A tear leaked out of his eye, as well. She wouldn't let go. She wouldn't let go of his finger. She had a tight grip on it. She didn't want to let go of this strange, yet comforting face's finger.

They heard footsteps coming down the hall. "Harry? Hermione?" they heard a soft voice behind them. They turned and saw a half-asleep Lily Potter standing there in her silk robe.

"We were feeding her. It's been two hours," Hermione explained.

Lily nodded. "Do you need any help?"

"No, ma'am. I think we got it," Hermione smiled back.

"Okay." Lily trudged back to bed, leaving Harry, Hermione, and Holly in the nursery.

As she walked down the hall, a wide grin spread on her face.

* * *

Every two hours after that, Harry would meet Hermione in the nursery to feed her a bottle. They had found her together and would take care of her together. She was both of their responsibility. The next morning, Harry and Hermione woke up at seven to go and feed her again. They were so tired after having to wake up three times during the night. However, when they arrived to the nursery, they found Lily feeding Holly in the rocking chair. She looked up as they walked in. She looked tired, but not as tired as Harry and Hermione.

"Mum...? Wh-what're you doing here?" Harry asked confused.

"I figured you needed your sleep, so I decided to feed her. Go back to sleep. The both of you," she sent them off. Harry couldn't make it one more room, so he went into Hermione's room with her and they fell asleep on her bed together.

They eventually woke up at nine o'clock in the morning. Lily had gone to feed the baby again. Hermione woke up feeling warm and comfortable. "Mmmm..." she moaned and snuggled deeper into her pillow. Whatever was keeping her warm tightened around her body. Her eyes flew open and she realized that she was being held. Harry was spooning against her. Her heart began to pound in her chest against her ribs. She couldn't believe Harry was spooning with her. She turned onto her back as best she could and looked at him. He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Sorry," he apologized and released her.

"That's okay," she replied sitting up. She looked at the clock. "It's nine. We better go feed Holly." Harry nodded. Both were disappointed that they had to get out of each other's arms. But the baby needed them.

They walked into the nursery to find Lily feeding Holly again. "She just woke up," she said.

"So did we," Hermione said with a yawn.

"So...are we going to keep her?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't know, Harry," Lily replied. "She _is _the daughter of Lord Voldemort. We could be putting the whole family in danger. Don't you think we should give her to a nice, Muggle family?"

Harry snorted, but there was no humor in his voice. "Yeah, she'll be safe," he told her sarcastically. "Mum, she's the _daughter of Lord Voldemort_. He _hates _Muggles! He kills them for pleasure. If she stays with us, she'll be safe. No harm will come to her. We'll protect her." He looked longingly at Hermione, who smiled back at him. "Hermione and I."

Lily smiled. She guessed this is how her son and future daughter-in-law would get together. "Alright, we can keep her." She stood up as Holly finished her bottle. "Here, Hermione, do you want to burp her? I have to go wake James. I don't want him sleeping the day away." Hermione took the baby and Harry put a burp cloth on her shoulder and the former put Holly on her shoulder and proceeded to burp her. Lily wondered how natural all this came to Hermione. She wondered if she had been around them before. She left the room en route to wake up her stubborn husband.

* * *

Harry made breakfast that morning. Eggs, bacon, and toast. Lily had brought down all of the old items Harry had when he was that age. She was glad she hadn't gotten rid of it or gave it to Tonks or Lyra. She dusted everything off and even cleansed a few pacifiers off with magic until they were good as new. They changed a lot of the baby clothes' colors as they were too masculine for a newborn baby girl. They set a small play pen in the dining room so that everyone could eat and no one would have to hold Holly.

Hermione had found several baby books and began immediately reading them and memorizing them. She had never had anything depend on her before. And now, here was a little girl that she had rescued that depended on her fully. Her and Harry, of course. And James and Lily. Was she to be this little girl's mother? And Harry her father? She didn't know. But what she did know was that she wanted to be. Very much.

There was just something in her that wanted to be a mother. She wanted to hold and hug and burp and feed and change a little person. She couldn't explain it. It was just a maternal feeling. She guessed this is what drove women to motherhood. She had finally understood why people had children.

After breakfast, the young witch decided to do what the book said to do and talked to Holly in the living room. "Hey, Holly. I'm 'Mione. I'm going to take care of you. I promise you won't go back to those people who starved you nearly to death. I'll look after you, Holly."

The little baby looked around curiously at everything there was to see. Her tongue was hanging out and she was moving it back and forth. Hermione wasn't sure, but she swore Holly could understand her.

Hermione remembered that the funerals for the lost Order members were that day and she closed her eyes in anguish.

* * *

"Who knows who's taking care of my child?" Bellatrix said pissed off. "That bitch, McGonagall, could be raising my child to be the _perfect_ Order member. Ugh! All because some stupid Death Eaters wouldn't watch her!"

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Bella, we're sorry. How many times do we have to say it?"

"NOT ENOUGH!" bellowed Bellatrix.

"What is the big deal, Bella? You didn't even want her anyway! It's just one more person on the enemy side! And she's only a newborn baby. She can't do anything yet."

"But she's being raised to _hate us_! Being raised to depise us! Being raised to learn how to get rid of us! We need to find her and get her back."

"But she's just going to be malnourished and probably die of starvation and lack of contact," Narcissa told her sister.

"I'd rather her die here of malnourishment and lack of contact than her being treated like a princess by those _stupid _blood traitors, half-breeds, and _Mud-Bloods_!"

* * *

Over the next month, they had finally nursed Holly back to health. She had just started cooing and began to make eye contact with both Harry and Hermione. They still could not tell who she favored. Harry or Hermione? She seemed content with both. Everytime she would see them, she would give them a big, gummy grin, coo, and kick her feet.

There were more rescues and missions that had to go on over that month. Hermione would always stay behind no matter how much she wanted to go. Harry was happy that she and Holly were safe and away from danger.

They had become a little family. The Potters, Hermione, and Holly had become a small family. Lily and James found it very much adorable to see Hermione and Harry with little Holly. They loved watching them interact. They loved watching them play with her. Their son had grown up quite quickly and never had a fairly normal childhood due to the war and ongoing danger that surrounded him ever since he was an infant. Now he was a "father figure" to a newborn. At nineteen.

Tonight was a mission Harry and James went on, while Lily and Hermione stayed with the baby. As always, the two women were very worried about them. They knew they were strong and powerful, but they always worried.

Lily had decided to confront Hermione on the subject of her son and her feelings toward him. As Hermione was feeding Holly, Lily walked up to her and sat down next to her on the couch and stated very bluntly, "You're in love with Harry."

Hermione froze suddenly and looked at Lily, shocked. "Don't deny it, Hermione. I have eyes, you know."

Hermione decided to do what Lily asked her and didn't deny her claim. "I-is it th-that obvious?" she asked stuttering a bit.

Lily nodded. "At least to me it is. I see the light in your eyes sparkle when he enters the room. Your smile widens. Your posture straightens. Everything about you just...lights up when you see him. I would know what it means. I did the same thing after I started liking James in our Seventh Year at Hogwarts. Now, you have a baby. A baby you and Harry found together. She needs both of you. But what she needs the most is love."

"Do you...do you think Harry could ever feel the same about me?"

Once again, Lily nodded. "Yes, yes, I believe he can." She didn't want to give away too much for she saw it in her son's eyes, as well. Love for Hermione. Lily wanted them to figure it out on their own. That the other loved them. They were young adults and were capable of seeing it in each other.

Eventually.

TBC...

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 9! Hoped you liked it!**

**Not sure what I'm going to do about next chapter.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	10. Lonely Moon

**Thanx for the reviews!**

**Yeah, I know it's becoming kind of sappy with all the interactions with Harry, Hermione, and Holly. But it's for a reason. They are becoming a family. It pushes Harry and Hermione closer together. Also, I know I skip around a lot but this is the last time. Also, I finally figured out how I want to do the Final Battle in this story. That is not a spoiler. Of course there would be a Final Battle in this. Haha. So I kinda know how I want it to happen. I have a scene in my head of how I want it to happen.**

**Btw, there's a scene in here about a talk between Harry and Hermione that I randomly put in. It was in my head and I had to get it out or I might explode. Haha. It was inspired by this quote: _"If a star fell each time I thought about you, then the moon would truly realize what loneliness really is."_-Unknown. I found it on Board of Wisdom. Great site.**

**I keep forgetting about Crookshanks. Haha. :(**

**This is where the turn of events happen. Mwhahahaha. (My evil laugh)...okay. Let's get this started.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Chapter Ten**

**Lonely Moon**

**Four Months Later**

Months had passed. More raids were issued. Many of them were stopped. Harry and Hermione were both now twenty. Hermione could not believe it had been almost two years since she had come to live with the Potters. So much had happened. Yet, so much had not. Hermione still did not confront her feelings to Harry. She had other things on her mind, like helping to raise Holly, who had just started to crawl. She was only six months old. Hermione read that babies usually start crawling at around six to nine months. She was at that age, but Hermione would have thought that she would start crawling at around eight months at least. But she was doing it now. It was a surprise to all of them when it happened for the first time one day.

Hermione had put her on a quilt next to Crookshanks with some toys in the living room after giving her a bath one night at almost eight. She was going to let her play for a little while and then send her to bed. James was upstairs in his study, talking to Kingsley about the raids and rescues. Lily was was in the kitchen doing the dishes. Harry had decided to go to his room for a few minutes. Even if he hadn't said it out loud, Hermione knew he went to write in his journal. He had had another nightmare the previous night. She had heard him yelling. It pained her to hear it.

The nineteen-year-old had walked over to the bookcase on the side of the television to pick a book that she wanted to start while Holly played. She couldn't choose between _Wuthering Heights _or _The Pillars of the Earth_. However, she did not get to choose a book to read that night as she was pulled out of her attempt of choosing one by Crookshanks giving a soft "_meow_" and something touching her heel. She jumped a bit and looked down. "Oh!"

She gasped at what she saw. There was Holly on her hands and knees at her feet looking up at her and grinning like there was no tomorrow. She cooed and giggled up at her guardian, wanting her to hold her.

"H-Holly?" Hermione gaped at her charge. "Oh, my God! Did you crawl from over there, Holly?" she asked, knowing that the little girl could not answer. So, she experimented. She walked to the couch and knelt down next to it on her knees. Seven feet away. "Come here, Holly. Come over here. Come see 'Mione."

Holly wanted two things at this point. First was Hermione. Second was for Hermione to stop moving. So she went after her again. She turned her body toward the older female and began to crawl towards her, confirming the nineteen-year-old's suspicions. She called out, "HARRY! LILY! JAMES! COME HERE! HURRY!"

Harry apparated right when he heard his name. His wand out and at the ready. Ready to take down whatever was hurting Hermione. But there was no one there. A few seconds later, Lily came running in from the kitchen. Her hands all soapy from washing the dishes. Not much longer after, James came bounding down the stairs.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Lily asked concerned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. But look-" She pointed to Holly, who was still crawling her way to Hermione. The three Potters gasped at the sight of the six-month-old crawling toward Hermione. Harry knelt down next to her, his jaw dropped in awe at seeing Holly crawl across the floor to them.

"Oh, my God," Lily cried, a few tears leaking from her eyes. Eventually, Holly crawled into Hermione's lap and she picked her up into her arms and kissed her cheek saying, "Holly, you did it! I'm so proud of you."

Holly looked at Harry and reached for him. He took her and held her to him. She laid her head on his shoulder and looked at Hermione, who smiled at her.

"She _just_ started doing this?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. I put her on the quilt and went to pick out a book and a few minutes later, I felt something hit my foot. I looked down and saw Holly there looking at me and grinning. The book said she's not supposed to start crawling until she's at least six to nine months, but I thought she would start crawling at maybe eight."

"Maybe she's a fast learner," James suggested.

"Maybe," Hermione replied thoughtfully looking at the little girl, wondering if she knew something she didn't.

* * *

"It's been _months _and we still haven't located the child!" Voldemort yelled at his followers. "I can't believe no one noticed anyone taking it! It must be at the Order's Headquarters. But we _still _haven't found _that_ yet either!"

In the past few months, he had recruited a small league called Snatchers, headed by a skilled Death Eater named Scabior. They would scour the land, looking for Muggle-Borns and also for the child. They are all ravenous beings who killed for a passion. They loved it even more than the Death Eaters. They liked to rape the women before they killed them.

"Not to mention, we still have that Potter boy who survived the Killing Curse. He _has _to be stopped! I will not have someone of that power on my opposing side!"

All of his followers nodded, understanding his orders. They had been the same orders for over a year now. Yet, they could not do them. They cursed the person who invented the Unplottable Charms. Yet, they blessed them the same for some of their own locations weren't found by the Aurors.

He would get that child back, even if it was the last thing he did. He would _not _let the Aurors raise her.

* * *

Later that night after Harry and Hermione had put Holly to bed, they went up to the roof above Harry's window. They laid down on a large quilt they had gotten from the linen closet. They stared up at the moon and the stars. No lights were visible around them, just the full moon. So they were able to see billions of stars in the sky. Twinkling like fireflies. And the sky was clear. Not one cloud in the sky.

"I can't believe Holly is already crawling. It seems like just yesterday we had taken her," Harry said breaking the silence.

"I know," Hermione agreed. "Now she'll be everywhere. We'll have to monitor where she goes so she won't get into anything she's not supposed to."

Harry nodded, staring up at the stars more clearly now. Wanting to join them. He wanted to get away from this damn war. Away from all of his struggles. Away from his nightmares.

"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your enitre life?" Hermione asked looking at the moon and stars.

Harry slowly turned his head to the side to look at her. Her hair was laid out on the quilt. Her beautiful face was lit up by the moonlight. Her lips were pink and looked so kissable. Her chocolate-brown eyes stayed gazing up at the full moon, stars, and the night sky. She had captivated him the moment he had met her. From the moment he had saved her from those three Death Eaters almost two years ago. She had become his first friend. The one he loved to be in company with. They were bound together by a prophecy with Voldemort. She was the one who he would give his life up for. The one he would not do anything for, but rather _everything _for. He never felt this way about anyone before, not even for his parents. What he felt for his parents was almost nothing compared to what he felt about Hermione.

"No. No, I haven't," he said back softly. Gazing at her. She felt his eyes on her. She glanced at him and realized he wasn't talking about the night sky and she blushed, looking away. But did not call him on it.

She looked back up at the night sky and wondered out loud, "Do you think the moon is ever lonely, Harry?"

He looked back up at the sky, too, and wondered that himself. "I don't know. Wouldn't the Sun be lonely, too?"

"No, because people are awake when the Sun is in the sky. It's not lonely. And it just spreads sunlight across the Earth constantly. It never goes out. It wakes people up. Tells them that it's time to get up and face the new day it has created. The Sun _always_ has company. The moon, however, has to watch people sleep. Watch them wait for the Sun. It has no company. It's very lonely. The only time it has company is when people decide to stay up late. I think that's why it becomes a full moon. Full moons make people go mad and keeps the nightlife active. It doesn't want to be alone. The saddest part is that it can only be a full moon once a month. It can only have company _once a month_," Hermione explained thoughtfully.

Harry stared at her. This girl was amazing. He could not believe she thought like that. It was very beautiful what she had just said. And he knew she was right. But what was she getting at? Why was she saying these things? Her next response answered his question.

"Before I met you and your parents, I had no one. I was like the moon. All I had was Crookshanks. I was all alone."

Harry turned back to the sky and replied, "But look at the moon. Look behind it. Look at all of those stars. The _stars _keep the moon company. Not the Sun. It was like God didn't want the moon to be alone so He created the stars."

"Harry..."

"Yeah...?"

"I think I'm the moon, Harry...and the stars are you. God brought me to you. He created you so that I couldn't be alone. I just couldn't see the stars in the city."

Harry looked sideways at her again. She looked back at him with a ghost of a smile on her face. He reached over and tucked a strand of her honey-brown hair behind her ear. "You've come a long way from the city, Hermione. And, I promise, you will never, _ever_, _ever _be alone again," he whispered before leaning over and kissing her on the corner of her mouth.

She smiled widely as a tear rolled down the side of her cheek and landed on the quilt. Harry laid back down in his spot.

"Just like Holly. God created us so that Holly wouldn't be alone."

Harry sought out Hermione's hand between them and took it in his own interlacing his fingers through hers. He gave her hand a squeeze and she gave one back. They stayed like that for hours until they got tired and went back inside and fell asleep.

* * *

It happened one day. The three Potters, Hermione, and Holly went the grocery store as they needed to restock on food. Hermione had Holly sitting in the grocery cart playing happily with a rattle. Lily, James, and Harry all separated from the two of them to make everything easier and quicker and went look for random items and would bring them back to the cart. "Let's see, Miss Holly, baby food..." she said to her charge as she rolled up to the baby food aisle. She picked up a four-pack of apple sauce and other strained and mashed baby foods. Holly would follow the food as it would be dropped into the basket.

Once Hermione had all of the baby food Holly would need for a while, she pushed the cart forward and went to the next aisle. It was a few minutes before Holly cooed and Hermione looked at her smiling. However, Holly was not looking at her. She was looking over her shoulder, like she saw something interesting.

"What is it, Holly? What do you see?" she looked over her shoulder and gasped.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Hermione's wand came out of her back pocket and into the other person's hand. This was not a regular Death Eater. He was dressed in rugged and dirty robes. He had long, dark hair tied into a ponytail. He was wearing black mascara around his dark eyes, giving him an eerie look.

"Hello, beautiful..." he told Hermione, who immediately stood in front of Holly. "Step aside, girl."

"No! Take me instead! Please, not Holly. Take me instead!"

"Stand aside, girl!" he repeated.

But she would not budge. _No one _was going to take Holly away from her. "NO! You stay away! LILY! JAMES! HARRY!"

They heard running footsteps and soon, Harry turned into the aisle, followed by Lily and James. All three of them took out their wands. The Death Eater quickly dodged all of their spells and disarmed them. Another Death Eater appeared and Petrified Lily and James. Harry ran to Hermione's side and took her hand.

"Step aside!"

"NO! I won't let you take her!"

"Fine. _Avada Kedevra!_" Harry watched the green light shoot out from the Death Eater's wand and sail to Hermione. He quickly grabbed her and stood in front of her, showing the Death Eater his back, covering Hermione with his front. The Killing Curse hit his back.

The Death Eater grinned, but slowly it turned to a frown when he realized Harry was still standing and breathing. "What the-?"

"Get the child!" Greyback barked.

The Death Eater waved his wand and Holly lifted from the basket and into his arms. She immediately started crying.

"Holly!" Hermione screamed reaching out for her. But before she could attempt to get her back, the Death Eater disapparated. With Holly. Leaving behind their wands. Harry turned around and realized Greyback had left as well. Harry summoned his wand and unfroze his parents and gave them back their wands. "NO!" Hermione cried as she realized her little girl was gone. She fell to the ground, defeated, sobbing. Her tears came down like a waterfall. Harry knelt down next to her and wrapped his arms around her and cried into her shoulder.

Lily snuggled herself into James' arms and cried as well.

Harry berated himself. He couldn't protect his family.

Some Order member he was.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Well, there was chapter 10. Hoped you liked it.**

**Yeah, I know, kinda like Adopted. I KNOW EXACTLY how I want the next chapters to go. Don't ask about the crawling thing. I just thought it would be cute. Haha.**

**Did y'all like my Moon/Hermione analogy? Again, it was inspired by a quote.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	11. I'm Scared for Her

**Hey, thanx for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Chapter Eleven**

**"I'm Scared for Her..."**

When they got home from the grocery store, Harry picked Hermione up and carried her bridal-style to her bedroom. He gently laid her on her bed. She took off her socks and shoes and her belt. Then, she lowered herself back onto the bed and turned on her side, away from Harry. He did the same and spooned against her back and held her against his chest. "Harry..." she cried. Holly's rattle that she had dropped when she had been _accioed_ into the Death Eater's arms was being held in her hand. It was the last thing she had touched. "She's gone..." she whispered. Crookshanks jumped up onto the bed and curled himself up near his mistress, keeping guard.

Harry felt as if there was a part of his heart missing now that the Death Eaters had taken Holly away. He felt as if he, Hermione, and Holly had become a small family and it was taken away from from him so quickly. "I know," he replied tears rolling down his face. He kissed her neck. His tears leaving wet spots on it. "I know, Hermione. We'll find her. I promise you, we _will _get her back. If it's the last thing I do."

Hermione rolled over in his arms and buried her face in his chest. He held her close and they cried with each other until they both fell asleep.

* * *

Lily and James watched them snuggle up into each other's arms as they passed Hermione's room. Like Harry, James led a disraught Lily into their bedroom. "Why? Why could we not protect her, James? Why did she have to go?"

"I don't know, Lily dear. I do not know," he replied laying her down on their bed and curling up next to her like his son did with Hermione. As much as Lily loved the fun and playful James, she had silently decided that she loved this James the most. The caring and loving one. The one she helped create.

When Lily and James met, it was at Hogwarts-when it was still open. They were in the same year as Sirius, Remus, Lyra, and Tonks. At that time, Severus Snape was Lily's best friend. They had been neighbors before. James used to make fun of Severus and used to hex him for the fun of it and Lily hated him. However, James thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and often times tried to pursue her. He was shot down every time. At least until their Seventh Year when they became Head Boy and Girl. And James had stopped hexing people for the fun of it. They fell in love and Lily was able to change his ways. He was still a prankster, but he was also caring. And James couldn't have been happier.

He held his wife tight about his chest as she cried herself to sleep. And he hoped. He hoped they could bring their surrogate granddaughter home somehow. And as he hoped, he wept.

* * *

Later that night, Harry found he was in bed by himself. He felt cold as he missed Hermione's warmth. He made his way down the stairs, hoping to find her in maybe eating dinner or watching the television. However, he found his parents sitting at the dining table, eating a small meal of spaghetti. He could see the tearmarks on his mother's face. She forced a smile as she saw him. "Hello, dear. You hungry?" He wasn't really. He wanted to find Hermione first. He shook his head.

"Hermione's still asleep?" James asked.

"No, I thought she was down here. You don't know where she is?" They both shook their heads, indicating that they didn't. He sighed, defeated lowering his head. Then...his head shot up.

"I know where she is," he said and ran out the back door. With his catlike instincts, he leaped into the air and transformed into his panther form. With his speed, he was at the Creek in no time. He saw her in her human form sitting on the edge of the Creek. Her back was to him, so she could not see him approach. He morphed back into a human and walked up to her slowly. He could hear her sniffles and shaky breath as she cried.

"I knew you'd find me, Harry," she said knowing he was behind her. He could see her breath in the cold air. Her voice sounded strained. She was definitely crying. Holly being taken away seemed to be the hardest on Hermione, who had become somewhat of her mother.

"I knew where you'd be. This is where I come to think. Come on, let's go back. It's dark and freezing out here. Death Eaters could be out here," he suggested sitting down next to her and wrapping his arm around her, trying to warm her up. Hermione wouldn't budge, she just leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm scared for her, Harry," she whispered burying her face in his neck.

"I know you are. So am I. But she's strong. I just hope wherever she is, she knows we love her." Harry kissed the top of her head.

"Since we have compromised the Malfoy House, I know she's not there anymore. They've taken her somewhere else. Some place _very _difficult to find. Very difficult to take." She paused before continuing. "I want this all to end, Harry. I want this war over with. I want to live in peace."

He kissed her on the side of the head. "Me too, Hermione. Me too. And we will. I can end this. I'm destined to. I'm destined to defeat him. I'm supposed to have this power that can defeat him. I don't know what it is, though. But I swear to you, Hermione, I will find it. And I'll defeat him. And we'll get Holly back."

"We need to figure out that power. Do you think it might have anything to do with you surviving the Killing Curse?"

"It might. Why don't we worry about that tomorrow? Come on, Mum made spaghetti." He stood up and held out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet. He used too much energy and she hit his chest with hers. They were mere inches from each other. Harry could feel her breath on his face. He started to lean forward. He wanted this. He knew he did. She wasn't pulling away either.

Two inches.

One inch.

A half.

Almost there.

_AAAAAOOOOOOO! _came a loud howl. They pulled away from each other quickly. Blushing. Embarrassed the two were at almost kissing. Hermione walked past him and led the way home.

* * *

"HOW COULD YOU LET HIM GET AWAY?" Voldemort yelled into Scabior's face. "HE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE! AND YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!"

"Master, what was I supposed to do? He can't be killed," the head Snatcher defended himself.

"You could've captured him! And brought him here! I could've dealt with him myself! Could've tortured him instead! Could've kept him locked away in the dungeon for the rest of his life! If he can die, of course! Who knew that the boy who can survive the Killing Curse was the one to steal the child?" He asked them a rhetorical question. He paused and turned to the rest of his followers. "No matter! We've got the child back! And even better-we've got hundreds of more recruits. And young, too. We'll let the Order wait. And wait. And wait. Let them wait anxiously for their deaths. Then...we attack. For the last time."

Suddenly, a high-pitched crying erupted throughout the whole of Riddle Manor. Everyone knew what it was. It wouldn't stop. It wouldn't cease.

"SOMEONE SHUT THAT LITTLE BITCH UP!" Voldemort screamed for someone to cast a Silencing Charm on the room she was staying in.

* * *

Holly could not stop crying. Where was her Mummy? Where was her Daddy? She was in a dank and cold place. She was shivering. Freezing. She cried and cried all day and all night until she got tired. Three times a day, some scary-looking person would bring her a bottle and change her diaper. Other than that, she didn't see any other person. She was alone.

She wanted her Mummy. With the fluffy hair and warm body. She wanted her Daddy. She wanted him to hold against his protective chest again. She wanted the big orange cat that had the soft fur and curled up next to her on the blanket when she would play. She wanted the older lady with the fire hair and the man who looked just like her Daddy.

She missed her Mummy's singing. Her Daddy's tickles. She wanted to get away from here. She wanted them back. Why did they have to leave? Where did they go? Of course, the child was too young to understand what was going on. But she did understand that something was wrong.

Eventually she would cry herself to sleep and dream of being with her Mummy and Daddy in their backyard and sometimes at the place with the water that came from up above rocks.

Holly missed her family and wanted them back.

* * *

"Voldemort is getting even stronger," Kingsley Shacklebolt said during the next Order meeting a week later. "We still have no idea what this power Harry has that Voldemort doesn't. Hermione has suggested that the fact that he survives the Killing Curse could be related to the power."

"I survived it again when Holly was taken from the grocery store. I covered Hermione with my body and I took the hit. My body absorbed it," Harry explained.

"Weren't you protecting Hermione the first time, too?" Sirius asked.

Everyone froze as they realized he was right. The first time Harry was hit by the Killing Curse he had jumped in front of it to save Hermione from being hit with it. This time he had covered her with his body. "Do you think something triggers it?" Harry asked.

"Probably your need to protect her," Kingsley suggested. "Or...something stronger."

Harry glanced at Hermione, blushing a bit. "Probably," was all he said hoping no one else saw that he was turning red. However, his mother did, who had a ghost of a smile on her face. "It's coming soon," Harry said seriously. "I can feel it. The end of the war. One side will be the victor. The other side dead."

"We must prepare," was Kingsley's last comment.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 11. Hoped you liked it. I know Holly to WAY to young to know and understand what a mother and a father are. But its just from her side, not necessarily her POV.**

**The tables have turned. Harry is now the one finding Hermione at the Creek. Harry and Hermione ALMOST kissed. Stupid wolf. By the way, if anyone tries to tell me that the full moon was the night before and so there's no way wolves could be howling. Wolves howl all the time, not just for the full moon. Read Twilight. Haha.**

**Sorry it was so short.**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	12. Training Part II

**Hey, thanx for the reviews!**

**Churchable: I know I drag out the romance, but I LOVE to lead up to it as long as possible. I don't know why. I just do. I just like the awkwardness, I guess.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Here's chapter 12!**

**I know the last chapter was kinda sad but I imagine the training part to be kinda funny. Just imagine the whole training to be set to music.**

**Chapter 12**

**Training Part II**

The Order and the remaining Aurors teamed up and decided to begin recruiting. The Aurors even became members of the Order. Since Hogwarts had been closed, Minerva McGonagall had been in possession of the Book of Witches and Wizards. Everytime there was a new witch or wizard born, it's name would appear in the Book and there would be a date next to it. Minerva had it safely hidden away in a closet in her house and hadn't looked at it since Hogwarts was taken and she had to evacuate under the orders of her superior, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She knew the Order would need recruiting so she took it out and found a list of names of witches and wizards that had been born and had not known they contained magic in their blood. She contacted the Order and asked for a meeting. She told them of her plan to recruit the Muggle-Borns, Half-Bloods, and loyal Pure-Bloods.

"Let them fight for their lives!" she argued to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Let them fight for their right to live!" Kingsley

It was a stressful few weeks, but the Order worked diligently and hard at finding any able-bodied Muggle-Born. They went to towns, cities, orphanages. They set an age limit to fifteen. So they recruited anyone fifteen and older who wanted to fight for their right to live. Many were shocked. Others happy to finally have an explanation for what they were doing all those years. Their families were stunned, but supportive. When a new recruit was found, an Order member would take them to see Mr. Ollivander, the wand-maker, to get suited for a wand. The Order found a bigger facility to train their new recruits in. They picked an old, abandoned warehouse not far from Kingsley Shacklebolt's home. They remodeled it so that the recruits could have a place to live in as well.

Harry and Hermione helped with the training. Since the Muggle-Borns were older, they caught on pretty quickly. Susan Bones, whose family had not really been in the fight often, was one of the many new Half-Blood recruits.

So was Dean Thomas, who was a Black British Half-Blood, but might as well have been a Muggle-Born. His father had walked out on his Muggle wife and infant son many years ago. He had always hated his father. However, Minerva McGonagall told him when she went to see him that his father was encouraged to leave his family by Albus Dumbledore before he died. It was to protect them from the Death Eaters. He did so willingly and was killed soon after he refused to join the Dark Side. However, Dean, his mother, and his half-siblings were never found, thus justifying his father's walk-out.

Seamus Finnegan was also a Half-Blood. He was Irish and a big football fan, like Dean. His father had a nasty shock when he found out his wife was a witch. He became great friends with Dean.

Lavender Brown was a new recruit. However, she was a Pure-Blood. She was very giggly and had a hard time concentrating on things as she was always giggling at the "charmingly cute" new boys she was being recruited with. Hermione even got a little frustrated with her as she kept focusing on other things.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was a Muggle-Born who had just graduated from Eton College. He was incredibly intelligent and extremely kind to everyone.

Colin and Dennis Creevey were both Muggle-Born brothers who were sons of a milkman. In fact, their father supplied the trainers and trainees with milk as they trained. "Brings strong bones!" he cried to them. Dennis had just turned fifteen and was happy he could join the Order. Colin had a camera and loved taking pictures of the Order. Especially Tonks, who would let him take pictures of her face as it would take the form of various animals.

Nigel Wespurt was also fifteen. He was a Pure-Blood and very funny. Surprisingly, he was pretty powerful. He knocked Harry on his back on the mat when they were training. Everyone was shocked because of his size. They didn't know someone that small could do that. Especially to Harry. But Harry was completely supportive of him as that was exactly what they needed.

Padma and Parvati Patil were twins of a Pure-Blood family who had moved to Britain from India years before their daughters were born. Mandy Brocklehurst, Su Li, Morag MacDougal, Lisa Turpin, Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Roger Davies, Terry Boot, and Michael Corner were only a few of the recruits Harry, Hermione, and their friends trained.

Hermione only disliked one person and it was Romilda Vane. She could not stop staring at Harry. She was almost completely entranced by him. She had even asked him how to brew a Love Potion, to which Harry just looked at her like she was mad and walked away. Hermione got the chance to duel her after she had learned all of the necessary spells. And she did not go easy on her. "Come on, Romilda! You can do better than that! Death Eaters are shooting at you left and right! You have to be quicker than that!" Although Romilda would never admit it, Hermione almost made her cry.

Like Hermione's dislike of Romilda, Harry hated Cormac McLaggen. He was tall and handsome with gorgeous blond hair. All of the girls that were crushing on Harry or Cedric were after him. However, Cormac only saw Hermione and liked to chat her up constantly. Hermione was pleasant and nice as first, but then he just got annoying. She especially didn't like it when he tried to kiss her. She pointed his wand at him and shouted, _"Depulso!"_ He flew back about fifty feet away onto the mat.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she yelled at him.

Harry had seen the whole thing and rushed over to grab Cormac. He shoved him against the wall. "Touch her again...and then you get to duel me. And I won't go easy on you. You better behave, McLaggen. Stay away from her!" He released him and he swore he thought McLaggen wet his pants. But he wasn't sure.

Everyone had seen this and had frozen to watch. And everyone could see it. Oh, yes, they could. Harry was in love with Hermione. When Harry walked back over to Hermione, they immediately went back to training. "You alright?" he asked her.

She nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah, thanks, Harry."

"You're welcome. What an idiot."

Training went surprisingly well. All of the new recruits took three weeks to mastering the spells and curses. They told them _never _to use the Killing Curse. They told them to use the Stunning Curse and wave their wand in a slashing manner and the Death Eater would be sent to Veritas.

Everyone had become very close friends. Harry, who had only one friend before this, was happy to make other friends. Hermione could see the joy on his face when he was talking to Seamus and Dean. Harry was always pretty shy but Hermione had helped him come out of his shell.

She just hoped that they could survive this.

* * *

"I think they're ready," Harry said laying on Hermione's bed with her the night of the last training session. They had had a rough three weeks. Training the new recruits to becoming fighters.

"I think they're ready, too," Hermione agreed. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. It hadn't crossed her mind very often these three weeks because of training. She paused before asking, "Harry...?"

"Yeah...?"

"Do you...do you think Holly's okay?"

Hermione felt him grow tense at her question. But he didn't hesitate. "No...I _know _she's okay." That made Hermione smile, albeit weakly. Yet, it was still a smile. He turned his head to look at her. "She's going to be fine. We _are _going to find where she is and take her home. She's ours. Yes, I know we took her, but she's ours."

Hermione combined his last two sentences into, "She was ours to take."

He smiled at her comment. He liked the sound of that. Holly had been lying there for the first three miserable weeks of her life. Hermione had heard her. She had heard the infant's cry. Holly led them to her. No one was taking care of her. No one was giving her affection. So she was theirs to take. Like a child that had been dropped on the doorstep of an orphanage. They had saved her life. And they couldn't had been more happier. Then she was taken away from them. Back to her abusers. Back to where she came from. And they only worried that she wasn't being tucked in at night. Hermione missed singing and rocking her to sleep. Harry missed tickling her.

They just wanted their little girl back.

* * *

A week later, Kingsley called an Order meeting to the new facility with important news. Everyone went. Even the new recruits. It seemed like there were about two thousand total. They even got some crossovers from Veritas. Almost a hundred former Death Eaters became a member of the Order. They were trusted and had anti-Apparation charms on them, just in case. It was nice turn out, but would it be enough? They did not know. Many ex-Hogwarts teachers came and joined the Order. Also, their friends from the French school Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, which taught beautiful women that all of the men seemed to stare at. Bill Weasely had become quite close to one of their students, Fleur Delacour, who seemed to have mutal feelings for him. All of his brothers were jealous, all except for Ron, who had Luna.

Olympe Maxime was the Headmistress of Beauxbatons. She and Rubeus Hagrid, the ex-Keeper of Keys of Hogwarts, were both half-giants. She and Hagrid were old friends and it was he that had suggested that the Order should ask the French school to help them. What everyone could see was that they, too, were in love. It seemed love was in the air even through this dark time.

Minerva had searched through her old collegue and mentor's notes and found that Durmstrang Institute from Scandinavia was to be trusted. So, she had Kingsley invite Highmaster Viktor Krum to come and join them. Highmaster Krum was a new Highmaster and had only been the head of Durmstrang for a year. The former Highmaster had recently died but had named Krum his successor before he could pass. Before the previous Highmaster was Igor Karkaroff, who used to be a Death Eater. He had been captured by the Ministry, but gave the Wizengamot names of Death Eaters in exchange for his freedom. They set him loose and he became Highmaster of Durmstrang Institute. However, when Voldemort came to power, he fled and no one had heard from him since. While Durmstrang does allow Dark Arts to be taught at school, it is for the students' protection. They should know what they would be up against.

Viktor Krum was only twenty-two when he became Highmaster appointed from Highmaster Fredriksen. However, the proud sons of Durmstrang say that so many improvements to the school have been made just in the first year he was appointed.

Hagrid recruited the centaurs, who had lived in the Forbidden Forest on the Hogwarts grounds. When Voldemort took over they made a run for it, leaving their home and going further and further into the woods until they knew they wouldn't be found by the Death Eaters. Firenze, a centaur loyal to Hagrid, entrusted him with their location. He asked them to help them and they agreed, although some of them, such as Bane, did not. But the majority did. However, the centaurs that agreed to join could not go to the meeting, but Hagrid would tell them later after.

"Welcome, everyone!" Kingsley shouted using his wand to amplify his voice. "I am very much glad that we have so many friends from all over the world who have come to help us. As some of you know, several months ago, we had infilterated the Headquarters of the Death Eaters. It had been compromised. However, they have moved to a much...bigger location. We had searched the Riddle House, where Voldemort's Muggle father lived. It was empty. We tried various head Death Eaters' homes. The Ministry. All empty. However! We found the Headquarters just last night. It's Hogwarts!" Everyone began to murmur. "I know. I know. Who knew? And why we hadn't looked there before. But we did and they had thousands of wards upon the school. No one could enter unless you were a Death Eater. We figured Hogwarts was a decoy to lead us somewhere else. But just last night, those wards were released. Like, they know we want to attack them. We are. Tomorrow!" Everyone cheered. "And as for Voldemort, we have someone who can take him," he said looking right at Harry. "So no one go after him." Many nods.

"Now, get some sleep. Because tomorrow night WE TAKE BACK WHAT WAS OURS!"

The crowd roared, even the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons cheered. It was clear they were not alone in this battle.

* * *

James and Lily had asked Harry and Hermione if they could have the house to themselves for a while. Hermione agreed with a knowingly smile. Harry agreed and then rushed out of the back door. Hermione followed him laughing at him. They both transformed into their cat forms and raced to the Creek.

Once they got there, Hermione won, but only because Harry let her. They went back to their human forms and Hermione said, "Beat ya!"

"I let you win!" he defended himself.

"Sure you did." She sat down next to a tree. Harry sat next to her.

"So..." she started wanting him to continue.

"So..." was all he said. He held his hand out to her and she reached out to his, as well. And they started a friendly game of Thumb War.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked.

"Can't say that I'm not. Yeah, I'm terrified." Hermione won and they restarted another match.

"Me, too." Harry won.

"We still haven't figured out my power. Or possibly it's just that I can survive the Killing Curse...sometimes." She won.

"If it doesn't come out until tomorrow night, then we'll know."

"But what if I have this power to defeat him, but I can't?"

"Harry, I believe you can do this. You are powerful enough to do this. I know you are. Let no one tell you any different. You can win this." She won and they stopped.

Harry looked at her seriously. Studying her face. Her forehead that he has kissed so many times before bed. Her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes with her long eyelashes. Her perfect nose. Her red cheeks. Her kissable lips. Her adorable chin. And yet, it was what was below the surface of her physical features that Harry loved so much. She was loving and kind and caring. But most of all, she never doubted him and his abilities. She was the reason he would fight. Yes, he would fight for all of the Muggles and Muggle-Borns. For freedom. For peace. But he would most especially fight for her.

"Then I will win it for you," he whispered to her softly.

Tears glistened in her eyes at his comment and she launched herself into his arms. Hugging him as tight as she could. She crushed her small body against his strong one. Harry let a lone tear roll down his cheek as well. They had come a long way. When Hermione had met Harry, he was almost too shy to talk to her. Now they were playing Thumb War at night. They were the best of friends. Yet, both of them wanted to be more. But no one wanted to say anything. Because of rejection. The war. Or, in Harry's case, not sure if this was love.

But this moment. This exact moment would forever be in their hearts. No doubt. This was their night. The night before the Final Battle.

And Harry did not know any other person he wanted to share it with than his best friend.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Well, there's chapter 12. Hoped you liked it. I really liked this chapter. Anyway, next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for. The Final Battle.**

**I know I'm dragging out the romance b/w Harry and Hermione, but it'll come soon. Don't worry. I see it in my head of how it's going to happen.**

**Anyway, pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	13. Final Battle

**Hey, thanx for the reviews! Sorry for the long absence.**

**This is gonna be my fav chapter to write. I just know it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Final Battle**

The next day, Harry and Hermione woke up in Hermione's bed after having the most restful night they had ever had in their life. Once again, Harry was spooning Hermione, keeping her warm through the night. He had his arm around her waist and his other arm was resting under her neck, making it an artificial pillow for his best friend. Harry looked at her sweet and beautiful face as she slept. He smiled a weak smile and kissed her temple gently so as not to wake her. Then he began to slip out of the bed, but Hermione grabbed the hand that was on her waist tightly. "Mmm-uhh," she protested. "No. Don't go. Stay with me."

And he did. He didn't know if he would be able to wake up with her like this again. And he wanted to enjoy it as much as he could.

Today was the day. The day of the Final Battle. The day evil met good. Hopefully for the last time. The day the Order fought back their lands and their freedom. A day that would go down in history for many generations to come.

When Harry and Hermione went down for breakfast, Hermione smirked at Lily and James and asked them, "Had a nice night last night?"

"Hermione, please, not at the breakfast table," Harry begged. He did _not _want to know the sexual exploits of his mother and father.

Lily and James ignored their son's plea and the latter replied, chuckling a bit, "Oh yeah!"

"It was lovely," Lily said with a grin.

"Ew," Harry said with a disgusted look on his face.

Lily had made a hearty breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, bacon, toast. It was to keep their strength up for tonight. No one really acknowledged that they could possibly die that night. No one wanted to waste a good morning. So they just ate and occasionally said something random that did not pertain to the War.

Later that day, they were to do some last minute training with the newbies. So, Harry and Hermione gathered with the rest of the young adults and teenagers in the training room in the facility to practice some last minute spells.

"They're pretty good," Ron said walking over to Harry and Hermione, who were standing there watching the rest duel.

"Yeah," they replied agreeing.

"Guess what?" he said to them with a huge grin on his face.

"What?"

"Look." Ron turned around and put his back to the rest of the younger Order members. Hermione saw that he made sure that his back was directed to Luna, his girlfriend. Out of his pocket he pulled out a beautiful diamond ring. It was about six carats and had a beautiful silver band. "After the War, I'm going to propose to Luna."

Harry and Hermione both grinned and said, "Congratulations, Ron!"

"I figured if I survive this and keep Luna alive, I'll have something to look forward to," he said putting the ring safely back into his pocket. He whispered a spell that would stitch his pocket closed up and tight so that the ring didn't slip out.

"Well, I'm happy for you, mate. Truly. You and Luna are perfect for each other," Harry beamed.

"Thanks, you two. And Harry...?"

"Yeah?"

"I believe you can do this. You can end this."

Harry had not known Ron that well, but those were the most heartfelt words he'd ever heard from him. He nodded. "Thank you, Ron. That really means a lot to me. I'll make sure you and Luna get your fairytale ending."

"Thanks, mate," he smiled at the both of them and then took off to see his girlfriend.

"They make a great couple," Hermione said observing the two kissing briefly.

"Yeah, yeah, they do. Ron can get a little impatient sometimes. I've seen him in the meetings. But Luna's eccentric enough to deal with it. She can calm him down and set him straight."

Harry just hoped he could defeat Voldemort so that Ron and Luna could have their fairytale ending.

At six o'clock that night, everyone gathered again in front of the facility. Kingsley was raised on a stage so that he could see the two thousand warriors that would fight by his side that night. Next to him were Viktor Krum and Olympe Maxime. The Sun was beginning to set. Everyone was quiet. Waiting for him to say something.

He opened his mouth and said, "We may all be different. Pure-Bloods. Half-Bloods. Muggle-Borns. English. Scottish. Irish. Asian. French. Scandinavian. Bulgarian. Eastern European. But we were brought here for the same purpose: Freedom. Freedom to live without fear. Freedom to go to the park and not have to worry if someone is following you. Freedom to send our children to school so that they can learn about magic and who they are. Freedom to live without the fear of this evil to spread. Freedom to sleep peacefully. Freedom to love. If we fail tonight, I just want all of you to know that it has been a privilege to fight alongside you tonight. I want you to know that if we fail, it is _not over_. It is not over until every last one of those Death Eaters falls or surrenders. If you choose to use the Killing Curse tonight, you will not be punished. I will understand if you just want to kill that one Death Eater that made your life miserable. The one that killed your loved ones. You will not be charged. Just...don't let it take you over. That was how this war got started." He paused, letting everyone sink it in. He was sure to instruct the trainers on teaching the newbies the Killing Curse, just in case.

"Tonight is going to be a night of remembrance. Many will fall. Many will live. But only one side will win. And we will do _everything _within our power to make sure that it is us." He paused again, thinking of his next words. "You see, the Death Eaters and we have something in common: magic. We all are filled with magic. But it is what we do with it that defines us. They chose to use it to kill and control those weaker than them. They've started fires, killing those that stand in their way. We chose to protect those weaker than us. And we will continue to do so. So that fire does not spread.

"We are all different," he repeated. "But standing next to us is a brother or a sister for tonight. Our hearts beat as one. We must keep those hearts beating tonight so that we can make new ones. And help others with heartbeats. So tonight, we do not fight separately. Tonight...WE FIGHT AS ONE!" he yelled to the crowd raising his wand into the air. They all cheered and rose their wands into the air, giving off a light.

It lit up the sky just as the Sun set over the horizon.

* * *

All two thousand of them portkeyed into the Forbidden Forest, near the Centaur encampment. When they arrived, Firenze, a Centaur and a dear friend to Hagrid, greeted Kingsley politely. "Good evening, Mr. Shacklebolt. I am Firenze. Hagrid told me you needed some Centaurs to help you against the Death Eaters. I have persuaded the rest of them. The ones that did not want to fight. They agreed to. They want our original homeland back. The Death Eaters took it from us."

"Thank you very much, Firenze. I'm glad we have more friends to help us. Now, I know you would probably want to go after Voldemort, but don't. We have someone for that," Kingsley ordered.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter." He pointed to Harry, who walked up to meet Firenze.

"Pleased to meet you, Firenze," he held out his hand politely.

"Lovely to meet you, too, Mr. Potter," he replied shaking his hand.

"_Him_?" Bane, the Centaur that did not want to fight, but was persuaded to, choked out incredulously as he saw Harry. "_This_ is who you're sending to defeat Voldemort? He's only a boy!"

"The stars said he had the power to defeat Voldemort," Hagrid stuck up for him. Centaurs were astronomers of the forest. They loved the stars and their symbols and what they meant. And Hagrid knew this. The prophecy wasn't exactly from the stars, but it shut Bane up.

Harry returned back to his parents and Hermione. "I bet you anything that Holly is in one of those rooms in the Castle," he said to her.

"Yeah. She has to be," was all Hermione said with a solemn look. She wanted to get her baby back from these creatures that took her.

They briefed the Centaurs on what they were going to do. It got around time that they made their way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, led by the Centaurs. The Potters and Hermione, the Lupins, the Blacks, and Kingsley were just a few in the front line. Kingsley whispered to Harry, who was on the other side of Hermione, "Harry, make your way straight to Voldemort. No hesitating, okay? I'm almost positive that if his followers see that he is dead, they will surrender." Harry just nodded and faced forward.

"Harry...?" Hermione whispered to him.

"Yeah?"

"I want to go with you."

"No, absolutely not," Harry said without hesitation. She could get hurt or killed. He would not live with himself if she did.

She placed a soft hand on his cheek and turned it so that he looked at her. "Harry, you were destined to defeat Voldemort. You can feel it in your veins. In mine, I can feel that I am to defeat Bellatrix. I _want _to. I need to. And I just know that she is with Voldemort," Hermione explained softly.

Harry looked at her beautiful face. _Really _looked at her. He couldn't refuse her. No, he could not. He nodded. "Alright." He grabbed her hand and held it. Her wand was in the way but it did not matter. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. She smiled. And then they both faced forward.

When they came to the edge of the Forest, they were greeted with a beautiful sight. Hogwarts Castle was the most magnificent thing Harry had ever seen in his life, aside from Hermione, of course. It had about five towers and seven floors and about eight hundred windows. The stones were grey and the tips of the towers were a dark green color. It was on a hill of a giant rock next to a huge lake.

It saddened Harry that he hadn't had the opportunity to study here.

They saw about ten Death Eaters standing guard at a covered bridge and around it. "Keep moving, everyone!" Kingsley shouted. "We want them to see us!" They continued to walk forward until the Death Eaters caught sight of them. Knowing they could not take them alone, they sent a giant spark into the air, signaling for back up.

It immediately came. Almost like they were waiting for this moment. Hundreds of Death Eaters popped up.

And it started.

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and they hurriedly made their way someplace safe. They took down a few Death Eaters on their way behind some trees, covered by the darkness. "We need to find Voldemort and Bellatrix," Harry said to her.

She nodded. "They have to be out here." They watched as some of their fellow Order members were taken down. It saddened them to watch, but they had to find the two people that would end this War.

Finally, after ten minutes of looking-and sadly and silently watching people die-they spotted them. The two were walking into the Forbidden Forest. Together. Side by side. "Look!" Harry pointed.

"I see them! Come on!" Hermione grabbed his arm and they quickly but silently went into the Forest after them. They went further in so that they couldn't be spotted by the Death Eaters.

* * *

Lily and James were a team, just like Harry and Hermione. They fought side by side. Back to back. Protecting their other half. "When this is over, Lily, you and I need to go on a nice_ long_ vacation. Preferably the beach," James said to his wife as they took down Death Eaters left and right.

"Sounds lovely. You need to wear that Speedo I bought you then."

"If that's what makes you happy, dear."

"Oh, it will."

They were fighting pawns. Merely pawns of Voldemort. The ones he sent into the first line of defense. Boys and elderly men who were inexperienced and weak. The Order seemed to be winning. That is until they heard the mysterious _thumps_.

When the first _thump _came, everyone stopped fighting. Even the Death Eaters, who looked at their opponents knowingly. The _thumps _got louder and louder, signaling to the Order that they were getting closer. They saw from under the suspended, covered bridge, from the cliffs of rock that plunged into the abyss, hands came up to the flat land of the battlefield. Everyone watched as dozens of giants haul themselves up onto the grounds of Hogwarts Castle. They were armed with clubs and did not look like a friend to the Order.

"GIANTS!" Kingsley shouted from somewhere to the left of James and Lily.

"We're on it, Kingsley!" came the shout of Firenze. Following his voice, they heard about a hundred sets of hooves move towards the giants and arrows went into the air.

The fight was on again. More and more Death Eaters showed up. These weren't pawns, however. They were more experienced and less easy to take down.

* * *

Harry and Hermione watched from the Forest as giants appeared to defend the Death Eaters. "He got the giants on his side," Harry whispered sadly.

Hermione didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Partly was that she was shocked at the sight because she had never even seen giants before in her life. The two watched as the centaurs charged against the giants, shooting arrows up into the air at them. That aggravated them. Very much so.

"Come on. We better get going," Harry whispered and they tore their eyes away from the chaos. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. They could hear the screams of the people dying and getting hurt. It pained them. The both of them tried to think about their task. _'Just try to find Voldemort and Bellatrix. Just try to find Voldemort and Bellatrix. Once you find them, it'll all be over' _they thought to themselves.

They walked across the Forest floor, looking for Voldemort and Bellatrix. They got to a large clearing. Once they got to the middle of it, a figure came out from behind a tree. It was donning a dark, black robe. It had a bald head and bare feet. And the palest skin either of them had ever seen. They knew exactly who it was when they saw the snake-like face.

"Voldemort," Harry whispered.

"Looking for us, Potter?" he sneered.

Behind them, another figure came out from behind a tree. It was Bellatrix.

"Bellatrix," whispered Hermione, turning her back to Harry, guarding it from Bellatrix. Just as Harry was guarding hers from Voldemort. Hermione was protecting Harry as he was protecting her. Just as the prophecy said.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked Voldemort. "Why are you killing people?" He wanted to know just exactly what compelled someone to kill another person just for the fun of it.

"Power," he responded as if Harry should've thought of that answer before. "I want power. Those Mud-Bloods don't deserve our power. They deserve to be slaves or better yet, dead. It's _our_ birthright. _Our_ magic. They _stole_ it from us."

"No, they didn't. They deserve to have magic just as much as we do. You can't kill people for something they do not have control over."

Voldemort changed the subject. "So, this is the boy who survived the Killing Curse. Twice. You look just like your father. Oh, yes, I know him. He was a great duelist. He locked countless of my followers away."

"And you're the ones who stole the child," Bellatrix added.

"You know, I laughed when I found out that the boy who could not die from the Killing Curse was the one that took my offspring. I mean, what are the odds of _that _happening?" he said bitterly laughing.

"Where is she?" Hermione demanded of Bellatrix.

Bellatrix just laughed out loud. She had even tossed her head back and laughed even harder. _'She's insane'_ thought Harry and Hermione. "You think I'm going to let you know where _my _child is? You _are _a foolish girl."

"You don't even want her," Hermione replied strongly.

"I don't want her to be raised by Mud-Blood scum such as you! _Crucio!_" The same time she shot the _Cruciatus Curse _at Hermione, Voldemort did the same to Harry.

"_Protego!_" Both Harry and Hermione shouted together. The spells bounced off of their shields but they were very powerful spells and the two were shot into the air from the force of the Curse. They hit each other's backs and the force sent Harry flying to the left and Hermione to the right. They landed about fifteen feet away from each other. Bellatrix slowly made her way over to Voldemort and stood by him.

Harry and Hermione started to get up, but Bellatrix shot the Cruciatus Curse at Hermione. She raised her wand to block it, but was too late as the curse hit her in the chest. Whatever Bellatrix did to Hermione, Voldemort did to Harry. And whatever Voldemort did to Harry, Bellatrix did to Hermione. Cruciatus Curse after Cruciatus Curse.

"Since I can't kill you, Harry Potter. This is the only way I can watch you scream," the Dark Lord said. "_Crucio!_"

Harry screamed as the pain went through his whole being. He turned his head to the side and looked at Hermione. He felt as if his heart had stopped. She was struggling as well. She looked at him with pained eyes. He wanted Bellatrix to stop hurting her. To stop hurting the woman he loved with all his heart. While the _Cruciatus Curse _was still upon him, he forgot about his wand and raised his hand toward Hermione and tried to reach out to her fifteen feet away. "Hermione..." he whispered, thinking it was possible for him to touch her from several feet away. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her. How much he wanted to kiss her. How much he wanted to marry her and spend the rest of his days with her.

At first, nothing happened. Then, a blue shield appeared around Hermione, succumbing her from the danger and Curse. He watched her stop struggling. And he knew she was safe. He smiled with that knowledge and raised his wand, "_Depulso!_" Voldemort was knocked back a few feet. The Curse was taken off of him as Voldemort lost his focus for that split second. Harry still felt the after effects, but he stood up.

Harry watched as the blue shield around Hermione was released. She stood up defiantly, still slightly shaking from the effects of the Curse. But she choked back the pain and stood up. "Bring it on, bitch!" she said strongly.

"You fucking Mud-Blood! How _dare _you call me that!" Bellatrix shot the Killing Curse at her, but Hermione blocked it effortlessly.

"You think you can protect her...but you can't, Harry Potter. She will die," Voldemort told him. "Just like all the rest."

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Harry shouted at him in anger. But of course, he blocked it. He had noticed Harry's actions and called him on them.

"Ah, I see. You..._care_ for this Mud-Blood...very deeply. You would do anything for her, wouldn't you? Even..._die for her_."

"Yes..." he whispered back.

"You..._love _her...don't you?"

Hermione and Bellatrix stopped fighting at Voldemort's question, awaiting Harry's answer.

Without hesitation, he looked sideways at Hermione and replied, "Yes."

Hermione gasped quietly. Harry loved her? Lily was right. Harry _was_ in love with her. "Harry..." she started, but Bellatrix sought this opportunity to attack as her opponent was staring at her lover. "_Avada Kedavra!_" Hermione almost didn't block it. She deflected it at the last possible second. Harry and Voldemort got into a fierce battle as well. Spells. Curses. Hexes. Anything to distract or stun or kill their opponent.

Hermione was a great fighter. One of the best. Her magic and fighting skills matched Harry's. But Bellatrix was older and had a lot more experience. The teenaged woman wondered if she would ever defeat her. Then, she sprung up an idea, thinking about the time when Harry protected her from the Death Eaters at Piccadilly Circus. She figured she only had a couple of seconds to do it. So she chose the opportunity...

..._now_!

She dropped her wand and she felt herself being lowered to the ground. Her arms disappeared and she grew two more legs and fur. She leaped at Bellatrix, claws coming out of her soft, velvet paws. And she attacked her surprised opponent with a roar. She went for the throat. Ripping it to shreds. Bellatrix died instantly. Hermione scratched and slashed and bit. She wanted to make sure it was not possible for Bellatrix Lestrange to come back to life.

Voldemort watched as the Mud-Blood killed his lover. He wanted to kill her. An eye for an eye. A lover for a lover. But he wouldn't do that. No, he had a better idea. He would kidnap her and torture her. Let her live with the pain since she killed his lover. Let her suffer the consequences. "_You fucking cunt! Crucio!_" The Curse hit her in the side and Harry wasn't able to stop it.

"NO!" he yelled. Hermione was blown off the dead corpse of Bellatrix. She landed on her side several feet away. They watched as she slowly morphed back into a human. She was covered in blood. She screamed as it hurt so much.

"Leave her alone! You will _never _know love...or friendship...and_ I feel sorry for you_. _Avada Kedavra!_" Harry's comment touched Voldemort. It struck a cord inside him. He was right. He would never know. He would never know what it was like to die for love.

So he watched as the love-filled Killing Curse soared toward him.

And he didn't stop it.

Harry watched as Voldemort's body disintegrated into billions of tiny pieces of burnt ash and flesh. He was gone. It was done. He was finally defeated.

The teenaged boy looked over at Hermione and strode over to her, grabbing her wand in the process. He fell to his knees next to her, tears forming in his eyes. She looked up at him as he approached her. "Harry..."

"Hermione...I love you so much."

She raised her hand to his cheek. Her bloody hand mixed with the blood, sweat, and grime on his face. "Harry..." she smiled up at him. "You did it."

"_We _did it. I killed him for you. I won this war for you just like I said I would. I won it...so you could have freedom." Then he remembered something. "The Power. It wasn't that I could survive the Killing Curse." He paused before continuing, "It was love, Hermione. It was love. I love you."

Hermione smiled and replied back, "I love you, too." She put her hand to the back of his neck and drew his face closer to hers. Ever so lightly, their lips met for the first time. It was the softest and shortest of kisses. But it was the sweetest and most passionate kisses of all time. Harry pulled back to look at her. Then leaned in for another one. Mouths were opened for this one and tongues were met. Moans were made. After a few moments, they pulled back. Harry stood up and held out his hand to Hermione, saying,

"Come on...let's go get our cub."

**TBC...**

* * *

**That last line is my favorite line in this story. I don't know why. I just love it.**

**HP7:P2 was AWESOME! Maggie Smith stole the show! I just loved her in this one. So funny. The Ron/Hermione kiss was kinda funny but not as amazing at the Harry/Hermione one!**

**Oh, so since Part 2 came out, u know what that means? My version of Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I'm going to start on it soon. I'm going see the movie again tomorrow so I'll have more memory of it.**

**Anyway, next chapter they get their cub back. Yay!**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


	14. Reunited

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Dinomus: Of course the next chapter is NOT the last. I gotta have an epilogue. DUH! Haha. I may have two or three chapters after this. I'll see what I can do.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. **

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Reunited**

Suddenly, the Death Eaters all stopped fighting as they felt something. Something wrong. They felt something on their forearms. Right where the mark of their allegiance was. Then they knew. Their master was dead. He had been defeated. All of his followers dropped their wands. Surrendering. Clinks were heard as their wands dropped to the stone ground of the Hogwarts courtyard. The giants all stopped once they saw that their allies had frozen. It took the Order, the French, and the Scandinavians a few moments to realize what was happening. When they realized that they had won, there was a big cheer and whoops in the air. Several people raised their wands into the air and great bursts of light erupted and shot into the sky. Centaurs nodded to their kinsmen, congratulating each other on holding it out until the end.

Lily jumped into her husband's arms. Happy sobs flowing down her cheeks. "Oh, James! Harry did it! He did it!"

"Yes, he did." He captured her lips with his and they had a long-awaiting kiss.

Neville and Ginny were involved in the same actions, as were Luna and Ron. Every couple that was on the battlefield hugged and kissed. Glad to be rid of these dark days once and for all. The remaining Death Eaters and giants were sent to Veritas to be interrogated. Many of the fighters walked around to tend to the wounded. Madam Pomfrey, a Healer at St. Mungo's who was previously employed at Hogwarts seventeen years before, was there and opened up the Hogwarts Hospital Wing immediately to tend to the wounded. Many other trained Healers rushed to her aid to help. There was a portrait of the first Medi-Witch of Hogwarts on the Ground Floor that opened up immediately and stayed open to allow the wounded to get to the Hospital Wing corridor without having to climb all of the stairs.

A few moments later, Dennis Creevey noticed two figures in the distance. He pointed and cried out, "Look! Over there!" The people who heard him followed his gesturing finger and gasped as they saw Harry Potter and Hermione Granger walking toward the damaged covered bridge. Harry aimed his wand at it and it immediately began to repair itself to become good as new. Everyone gasped. It would have taken at least fifteen minutes and at least ten average wizards to repair it. Harry had fixed it in a flourish and with no effort. Hand-in-hand, Harry and Hermione began to walk across the bridge toward them. When they saw Lily and James, they broke into a run and launched themselves in their arms. "Mum! Dad!" There was a large applause from the fighters.

"Oh, son! I'm so proud of you!" Lily whispered in her son's ear. Hermione gave James a daughterly hug. And then they switched. "The both of you!" Lily added as she hugged Hermione, who smiled at the compliment. Both she and Lily were in tears.

"Where is she?" Hermione asked as she stepped back from Lily's embrace. Lily knew who she was talking about and smiled, running a finger down a cut on Hermione's cheek. Her finger smeared with a little blood. "We don't know where she is. Let's search the castle. Don't worry, dear. We'll find her."

Most of the Aurors had it all covered with bringing in the dead to the Great Hall and bringing the wounded to the Hospital Wing. Since Harry and Hermione did not know the layout of the castle, Lily and James went with them instead of splitting up. The Lupins and the Blacks offered to search other parts of the castle and would send a patronus their way if the others had found her.

* * *

Luna stood out in the hall as her beloved was in the Hospital Wing with his family. She didn't want to go in as there were already so many people in there. It was Ron's brother that was on the brink of dying. Fred. And Luna just hoped he was okay. She and Ron had fought side by side throughout the whole thing. The whole Battle. And she knew she would do it again in a heartbeat.

The door opened and Ron walked out with a relieved smile on his face. "He's going to be fine," he told her. "We got him here just in time to stop the bloodflow and put more blood in him. He's resting."

Luna launched herself in his arms. "Oh, Ron! I'm so happy." She kissed his cheek.

"We've fought valiantly, haven't we?"

"Yes, we did, Ronald."

"I have a question to ask you." Ron shoved his hand into his pocket, breaking the thread that he had sewed it shut to keep its treasure from falling out. "You have always been by my side. 'Til the end. The _very_ end. There's something I've never told you. When we were just kids, about six or seven years old, we ran through my family's wheat field. I chased you. We were laughing and giggling like mad. My whole life my mum taught me to be cautious and wary of others. But when I chased you, I felt...happy. Like butterflies were erupting from me. I had finally caught you and we both fell to the ground. And we laughed even harder. What you don't know is that that was the moment that I fell in love with you.

"These were dark days we were going through and yet, I found the light in my life _in you_. So, Luna Evanna Lovegood..." He took the ring into his hand and slipped it out of his pocket. He backed away from her a few steps and knelt down on one knee, making her gasp in shock. He held up the ring that had been safely secured in his pocket since that morning up to her. "...will you marry me?"

"Yes!" she shrieked immediately, grinning and laughing. Ron laughed as well and stood up to slide the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. She looked up into his blue eyes. And he looked into hers.

And their lips met.

* * *

The Potters and Hermione made their way to the Heads' Tower as quickly as they could. They didn't know what condition their little girl might be in. It was likely she could be hurting. Or starving. Or scared. Or even dead. But they tried not to think of that last one. "Would she be here?" Hermione asked as they approached Heads' Tower.

"It's most likely she'd be here," James answered, feeling very nostalgic as they stood in front of the portrait of a pale-looking woman with red hair. She was wearing a long, black dress with half-moons on them and a matching hat.

When she noticed her new company, she recognized the elder Potters immediately. "James! Lily! It's wonderful to see you after all these years! I remember when you two inhabited my Common Room."

"It's great to see you, too, Damara," Lily replied sweetly. "We're looking for a little girl. A toddler to be exact. She had green eyes and brown hair."

"Oh, yes," Damara replied sadly. "The way they treat her..." She shook her head, hesitating a bit. As if it was too painful to say these words. "She cries nonstop. They don't give her much attention. Little Miss is inside and up the stairs in the Head Boy's dorm." She swung open and the four ran inside.

"Thank you!" Hermione cried as she and Harry led the way up the stairs, taking two at a time. "HOLLY!" She threw the door open and immediately looked for her little girl. She spotted an old crib and watched as a tiny figure turned its head and looked at her. What came out of her mouth shocked all four of them. They couldn't believe it...

"Mama. Dada."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Holly. Her baby. Her little girl. Her daughter. Holly lifted herself up as best as she could as Hermione rushed over to the crib. "Holly!" The skinny toddler lifted her arms up for Hermione to pick her up. That's exactly what she did. "Mama!" The little girl wrapped her tiny arms around Hermione's neck and laying her head down on her right shoulder, not letting go. Harry, who had tears falling down his cheeks as well, stood next to Hermione's shoulder where Holly was. When she caught sight of him, her grin got larger. "Dada!"

"Oh, Holly. We've missed you so much, baby girl!" he stroked her soft brown curls and kissed her forehead gently. She grabbed his index finger that was running through her hair in her tiny hand and held it tightly. Just like she had done when they had first taken her. Lily and James let the small, thrown-together family have their moment and then reunited themselves with Holly. She cooed as she saw her grandparents. Lily kissed the little girl's temple and stroked her curls.

James sent his stag Patronus to the Blacks and the Lupins, telling them they had found the child. Remus had sent one back of his wolf Patronus telling them that Kingsley had sent him one, telling him that they were getting a group together to infiltrate and take back the Ministry.

Remus also said that there was to be a mandatory Order meeting the Great Hall in ten minutes.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Yeah, I know it was short but I haven't updated in a few months. Sorry. College has been stressing. Pleez forgive me! Well, the family is reunited. Luna and Ron are engaged. Yay! Now for the aftereffects of the war and taking the rest of the Wizarding World back.**

**Stay tuned.**

**Pleez review!**

**DREWHHR**


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